


CoSL 19: Bad Company

by Dracophile



Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [19]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Consent Issues, F/M, Hunting, OC centric, Road Trip, technical mass murder?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracophile/pseuds/Dracophile
Summary: Part 19 of the Casebook of Sloane LarsonSloane's ex-boyfriend and the kind of Grimm wesen parents warn their children about has come to town! Out of fear that he'd hurt her friends if he stayed and found out about them, she and Trubel agree to go with him on a hunt in another state and meet up with more of her former Grimm cohorts. Trying to balance who she is and who she was is a hard tightrope to walk, even more so when she realizes she might not be the only one who changed--but not for the better. What would happen to her and Trubel if they suspected they were "soft"?
Relationships: Nick Burkhardt/Juliette Silverton, Rosalee Calvert/Monroe
Series: Grimm-The Casebook of Sloane Larson [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1061588
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	CoSL 19: Bad Company

“ ** _I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”_**

\--------------------

**Bad Company**

\----------------------

Sloane scanned the crowd slowly, trying to find her target. The fall chill was enough she was finally able to wear her new leather jacket and she was grateful for it. Pulling her glove off, she took out her phone and dialed Renard’s number. “Hey. I’m at the square, but I don’t see the guy you told me about.”

“He’s good at hiding,” Renard said. “I’ve had to deal with Eddie Guinon before when I was a sergeant and he slipped away. After killing three people,” he added with a hint of frustration and bitterness.

“So why would he come back?” she asked curiously and with a hint of annoyance, looking around. “You didn’t tell me much in the office, if you recall.”

“Couldn’t say much with everyone else around. But Guinon has still got contacts here, and funds he hid I’m sure he wants back after almost six years. As a Racun rahang, he’s stubborn. He’s also smart. If he sees me nearby, he’ll bolt. But he doesn’t know what you look like. A Grimm will also make him a little bit more compliant I’m hoping. I do want him alive if possible, for information.”

“Nick’s usually better at that,” she reminded him, pulling out the picture again.

“Nick is still getting back into the swing of things.”

“It’s been a few days and he’s doing fine.”

“I know, but I also don’t want to push him too much.”

“You’re the one that got shot and was back at work a few days later!” she laughed. A couple of people looked at her and then quickly moved on, but she just kept looking around. “Seriously, Renard, you don’t always have to play the “good guy” captain with me—we’re not on the clock. Be honest.”

“Okay…The real reason is, you’re better at being the scary Grimm,” he said honestly.

“I’ll consider that a compliment…” she said, amused. “Really though, Nick is fine…hold up, I think I see your man,” she said, seeing a man with olive skin and a shaved head walking through the crowd. He was trying to look casual but was obvious from his body language he was keeping an eye out and trying to get to a particular building. Sloane pulled out the security photo Renard gave her out again and glanced down at it. “Yeah, that’s him. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Good luck.”

She ended the call and put the photo and phone in her jacket pocket. Maneuvering through the crowd, she managed to catch up to Guinon as he headed into a nearby building. It was a men’s suit store apparently, with mannequins and photos of sharply dressed men everywhere. She saw Guinon speak to the man at the counter and follow him to the back. Before he could glance back, she turned to look at a display of ties. He continued through the door and Sloane quickly tried to formulate a plan. If the clerks knew him, they likely would alert him if she just pulled the police officer card right away. She needed to get to Guinon alone.

“Can I help you miss?” a clerk asked, coming up beside her.

Sloane smiled, slipping into a perkier persona easily. “Maybe. My boyfriend and I are invited to a wedding and all his ties are…ugly. He needs something that doesn’t look like a twelve-year-old picked it out.”

The clerk smiled. “Understandable. Is it black tie or did you have a color in mind?”

For a second she imagined a pair of familiar dusky green-brown eyes. “Green…it brings out his eyes.” A small ball of confusion and guilt rolled in her stomach and she tried to blink away the image of Nick at Monroe and Rosalee’s wedding. _Don’t get weird._

“Well, green is a very popular color. We have a few shades as well.”

“Um, well, something light would probably be best…” She feigned embarrassment and leaned in. “I’m so sorry, would you mind if I used the restroom really quick? I chugged my morning coffee and I cannot make a decision like this…”

He smiled and nodded. “No problem at all, this way.” He led her over to a door near where Guinon had entered. “Would you like me to pick out a few green ties?”

“I’d appreciate that, thank you. Oh, maybe some reds or purples too? They are the wedding colors. Is that too much?”

“Not at all, I’ll select a few to show you in each.”

“Thank you! I might just pick him up a bunch and let his old ones mysteriously disappear,” she smiled and headed through the door. The clerk left, no doubt hoping to sell quite a few ties now, and Sloane took a breath. She waited a few moments before looking up and calling the store on her phone. She heard it ring and then someone pick up. “Hello?”

Ignoring the call, she cracked the door, ensured that the clerk had their back turned or was away, and quietly opened and slipped through the door. This led to the back, which was apparently a small warehouse with racks of suits hanging up. Ending the call, she circled the outside of the racks, figuring whatever Guinon was looking for it must be along the walls. Sure enough, she found him rummaging around at part of the wall.

“Edward Guinon?”

His head whipped up and he stood. “Who the hell are you? How’d you get here?”

She flashed her badge in her jacket. “Portland PD. I’d like for you to come downtown with me. And I prefer you come peacefully.”

He sneered. “Like hell. Christ, I’m back for less than two days and you’re already on my ass?”

“We’re quick on the uptake. If you do not come peacefully, I will put you under arrest.”

“For what?”

“Murder. Extortion. Money laundering-that’s what Renard told me anyway.”

“Renard…Oh, that upstart detective,” he laughed. “Am I supposed to be intimidated?”

“I’ll let my Captain know you said that.”

“Captain, oh, well, someone’s come up in the world while I’ve been gone-”

“Look, I’m not one for talking overly long, either woge and we fight, or I’ll just beat you now,” she sighed.

He started a bit before he did indeed woge, his face growing scaled, eyes slitted and yellow, and his teeth becoming rows of razor-sharp points. A reptilian hiss escaped him, and he stepped back slightly. “Grimm!”

“Yep. So, what’s it going to be?” He tensed, looking ready to fight, and she reached into her jacket for her knife. Before she could unsheathe it though, he suddenly turned and bolted. “Hey! Running was not one of my options!” she yelled, moving to follow. He pulled a rack of suits down, but she quickly bypassed it using a pillar to swing around and stayed on the move. He went out a back exit into an alley, only to find it blocked by a garbage truck on the other side, the vehicle too wide to allow him out. There didn’t seem to be anyone manning the truck either.

“Not your lucky day,” Sloane said, standing at the only way out of the alley now. Guinon turned and hissed again, his forked done flailing in agitation. Sloane tensed and readied for a fight. A Racun rahang was like a Komodo dragon-like wesen—reptilian and with a bite that could infect a person with a highly toxic saliva. Painful and possibly fatal. She’d have to stay on her guard and ready for a tough fight.

So, it was a surprise when someone did pop up from on top of the garbage truck and shot Guinon through the chest from the back. The man de-woged, staring at the growing patch of red below his collar bone, before collapsing without so much as a word. Sloane gaped a second before her eyes darted up as the figure climbed down. She raised her knife, ready on the defense. “Who the hell are you?!”

The man hopped down the last run of the truck’s ladder and turned and Sloane almost dropped the knife in shock. “Don’t tell me you forgot about me, love?” he said, a faint Irish accent coloring his words. The man smiled, a cocksure grin lifting one side of his mouth and god he hadn’t changed a bit in the years since she saw him.

“Collin?” she gasped. Normally she tried to hide her surprise, but it was hard. This was the worse person to be here now without warning. “Wh…what are you doing here?”

“Well, I’ve been tracking down this gobshite for the past couple of days,” he said, toeing Guinon’s body. “He caused a bit of a problem when I first arrived, killed off a man right close to where I was staying. Didn’t realize you were also after him, that’s convenient.”

Sloane was trying not to panic and quickly sheathed her knife. “…What are you doing in Portland though?”

“I came looking for you!” He walked over and smiled. He had a faint scar going through his right eyebrow, and his nose was slightly crooked, but he had a certain handsomeness about him that would draw girls to him. Nothing seemed to change about him at all and it gave Sloane an uneasy feeling in her stomach. “I need your help with something.”

Sloane shook her head. “I’m sorry, now’s not a great time…Did you seriously come all the way here just to talk to me? I still have a phone number." _Not that I would pick up for you to be honest…_

"Aye, but I wouldn't get to see you then," he grinned. “And it’s always a lovely sight.”

Sloane’s face didn’t lighten. "Collin, this really isn't the best time..." she said slowly.

He smirked again, coming a bit closer. "Come now, Sloane. Whatever you're doing here, couldn't you use a bit of help? We always did work well together." He reached up and put an arm around her, speaking in her ear. "We did a lot of things well together."

She frowned and smacked his hand, and he pouted when he took it back. “I’m serious.”

“You always are,” he sighed. “But, despite what you may think, so am I. I need to talk to you about some things-”

There was the sound of sirens in the distance getting closer and Sloane looked at him. “Did you steal that garbage truck?”

“Eh…borrowed more like,” he said slowly. “Was figuring on going in there to flush the bastard out myself once I got the other side blocked, but you did that part for me. Guess they realized it wasn’t where they parked it already.”

Sloane pinched the bridge of her nose. It was a familiar headache dealing with the Irishman. “Collin…look, I will handle things here, you better leave.”

“You can come with me so we can talk now,” he pointed out.

“I’ve got things to do this afternoon, I’ll be off the grid in the woods. Call me later if you’re so damn insistent but neither one of us wants to be caught around a dead body!”

“Always pragmatic, missed that about you,” he smiled. “We’ll talk later then.” He quickly ran towards the front of the alleyway, sprinting off. Sighing, Sloane pulled out her phone and dialed Renard as she headed back into the shop.

“Sloane? How’d it go?”

“Not…well,” she sighed. “Guinon’s dead.”

“He didn’t want to come peacefully?” Renard asked, not judging but sighing all the same.

“I didn’t do it,” Sloane said seriously.

“…Alright. You best get out of there then; I’ll arrange for him to be found.”

“Also not a problem, I hear sirens already. I got the stuff he came for at least,” she said, kneeling down to look at the hole in the wall.

“That’s something.”

“Yeah. But do me a favor and round up Nick, Hank and Wu and meet at your office. We have a bigger problem.”

\--------------------

Nick walked into the office, nodding to the others. “Hey, what’s the emergency?”

“I’m not sure, Sloane wanted to wait until we were all here,” Renard said, looking at her.

“I didn’t want to explain this more than a couple of times, I’ll need to tell Monroe and Rosalee too anyway,” she sighed. “To preface this, I was on a hunt earlier at Renard’s request. I was supposed to try and bring in one Eddie Guinon alive.”

“Eddie Guinon is back?” Hank asked. “Shit, that guy is bad news…He’s like old school mafia. My superiors used to talk about him when I was a beat cop. I thought he got run out though.”

“He did, I was part of that task force. He was also wesen, a Racun rahang. I heard he was trying to come back to Portland, at least for some important goods he left behind. Sloane did manage to find those.” He held up a small sack. “Mostly flash drives of what I believe to be some of his contacts and banking information, so that will be handy.”

“But no Eddie?” Wu asked delicately.

Sloane sighed again. “He was killed before I could get him…by another Grimm.”

“Another one?” Wu asked, shocked. Everyone was equally flabbergasted, even Renard was looking ruffled.

She shrugged. “There are more than you think in the world.”

“But why here in Portland?” Nick asked, shocked as well. “I mean, is this place just a Grimm magnet?”

“It feels that way, but no. He’s here for me,” she sighed.

Renard arched his brow. “You know him?”

“Yeah…” She said slowly. “His name is Collin Donahue and, um…I guess what you would call my ex-boyfriend.”

The men were all quiet a moment.

“Oh,” Hank finally said. “So…awkward?”

“Given how we left things, a little,” Sloane agreed, looking put out just thinking about it. “Apparently he’d spotted Guinon earlier and followed him, then laid a trap for him. It was a coincidence we were after the same wesen, but he did come here to find me. Because he needs something. I didn’t ask about the details, no time before we heard sirens, and he wants to meet up to talk about it.”

Nick frowned. “Should I come with you then?”

“Absolutely not,” Sloane said firmly. He frowned but she didn’t gentle her tone. “I’m here to tell you all this as a warning. Collin is more a traditional Grimm. How I was when I first came here? Multiply that by ten. And he will not change. He is proud of it. If he could stuff wesen and mount them on the wall, he would. And if you two meet; it’s going to be bad. You didn’t like me when I first came here, did you?”

“Uh, well…You were a bit…abrasive?” He said delicately.

Sloane rolled her eyes. “I was a bitch, just say it, I admit it. But I had it in me to change, even if I didn’t want to admit it at first. He doesn’t. I know this, I have seen what he is capable of and it is a big reason I left him. And he will try to hurt you—any of you—if he finds out about how we operate. He doesn’t like any wesen, he doesn’t like Keirshiete who get along with wesen, and he doesn’t like Grimms who don’t kill wesen on sight. So, you can imagine why I don’t want him knowing about you, or Monroe and Rosalee and the others,” she said.

Renard nodded, looking troubled. “This is troubling then.”

“Could we bring him in?” Wu asked. “Arrest him?”

Sloane shook her head. “He’d have covered his tracks as far as Guinon or anyone else, and he’d run for it before we’d be able to get him. While I don’t like his methods, I don’t bet on us being able to bring him in. And he’ll kill to get away if he thinks he has to.”

“So, you recommend we not engage him, but you do?” Hank clarified.

“I’d prefer not engaging at all with him…but yeah, basically.”

Renard sighed, resigned. “Knowing a man-eating tiger is out there is disturbing, but better than being in his line of sight or making him more agitated to attack.”

“Exactly,” Sloane said.

“But you’re sure you’re safe with him?” Nick asked again.

“Yeah, you sure you don’t need back up?” Hank said. “I know you can probably turn this guy into a pretzel if you wanted, but…”

Sloane smiled, though Nick noticed she didn’t look as confident as she usually did. “I appreciate the thought, but for now I’d like to have him just move on. I’m hoping I can get him to do that peacefully by just telling him I’m busy here, but I don’t need help.”

“Okay,” Nick said hesitantly. “Just be careful and call us if you think you’re in trouble.”

“Right. On that note, I don’t want him meeting Trubel either. I don’t want her even knowing he exists because I don’t trust him not to pull her down to his level. Oh!” She snapped her fingers. “That’s right, I’m meeting her this afternoon for some training. She’s probably waiting for me to pick her up.”

“I’d go do it,” Hank said. “She’d get curious if you canceled and we didn’t have a case.”

“True,” she sighed. “Training would help center me I think for dealing with him too…He knows how to get under my skin…”

“I’ll call and warn Monroe and Rosalee,” Nick said. “You go do that.”

She smiled and nodded. “Okay. I’m going to head out now then, I’ll call you guys after I actually talk with him.”

“Let me know if I can at least give him a parking ticket,” Wu called after her.

“He’d never pay it!” Sloane laughed. Inside she was still feeling her stomach tying itself in knots.

\--------------------

Monroe was working in the little part of the shop he’d claimed as a work area, so he could do some work on his watches while also helping Rosalee. Rosalee wasn’t complaining, it was nice to have the company and help, and even just knowing he was nearby was a comfort after all the talk of the Secundum Naturae Ordinem Wesen. It made him feel better as well to stick close to her rather than risk her being alone.

When his phone rang to the tune of Another One Bites the Dust by Queen, he carefully set his tools down and picked it up. He’d gotten into giving personalized ringtones after hearing Nick do it. “Hey Nick, what’s up?”

“Hey. You’re at the shop right now, right?”

“Yeah…is there a problem?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah, but I’m really more just giving you guys a heads up. I know you’re stressed enough as it is, but I don’t want you guys getting caught up in anything unaware.”

“That’s ominous,” he said, standing and going into the shop proper and up to Rosalee. She looked up and frowned slightly till he mouthed ‘Nick’ at her. “Hold on, let me put you on speaker.” He took the phone back and pressed the speaker button, leaning over with Rosalee. “Okay, shoot, what’s this warning?”

“Okay, well…there’s another Grimm in town,” Nick sighed.

“Another one?” Rosalee asked in surprise.

“Good lord, they’re multiplying,” Monroe said, half-joking half-serious. “You met this one?”

“No. Sloane did. Apparently, he’s her, um…ex-boyfriend.”

“Oh God…Collin?” Rosalee gasped.

Nick was surprised. “Uh, yeah. You know him?”

“She told me about him,” she said, disdain in her voice. “He’s a bad Grimm, and a bad man in general. Sloane said she left him in part because he was too extreme for her. He didn’t believe in mercy, even for young wesen, and she only barely talked him out of killing them. And he started a fire once that killed several people, wesen and not, and justified it to her as necessary casualties. That was part of why she left him.”

“Yikes,” Monroe said.

“Only part?” Nick said, also disgusted just thinking about that.

Rosalee was about to go on but paused. “…The other reason is a bit personal,” she said. “But I know she said he was dangerous. She wasn’t too proud—she was thinking of marrying him when they were younger.”

Nick and Monroe both frowned. That really didn’t sit right with Nick especially. If he was that bad, he didn’t like thinking about her marrying the guy. “Okay…”

“What’s this guy doing here?” Monroe asked.

“Sloane said he wants her help with something. They didn’t get to talk about what, he killed a wesen suspect she was after and they had to split up.”

“Should we be concerned he killed someone?”

“Well, he was a violent suspect, Edward Guinon, who was part of the mafia a while ago.”

“Eddie Guinon? Huh…well, can’t say I’m angry at him for that,” Rosalee said. “He used to try and extort money from my father, only stopped when the council put its foot down. It didn’t stop him from giving my dad a scare breaking in one time. Then he got pushed out by police I hear.”

“Yeah. But I don’t want him to stick around and possibly kill someone else,” Nick pointed out.

“Agreed,” Monroe said. “But will he leave quietly?”

“Sloane is going to try and get him to. I guess she’s hoping their old relationship will give her some sway over him.”

“I don’t like her meeting him alone,” Rosalee said.

“…Neither do I. But she doesn’t want him knowing about us. Thinks it’s safer. Right now, she’s gone to pick up Trubel for a little training, then she’s going to go talk to him. She’ll probably talk to you guys later too.”

“Okay. Thanks for the heads up then,” Monroe said. “We’ll try to keep our heads down, though we were doing that already…”

“Hang in there. We’re still working on figuring out who’s terrorizing you guys too. How are you holding up?”

“We’re fine,” Rosalee said, smiling a bit more. “No trouble the last few days.”

“Maybe these backwards jerks got bored,” Monroe said, though he didn’t sound convinced.

“Well, call us if anything does happen.”

“Will do. You stay safe too.”

“Will do. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Monroe blew out a breath when he ended the call and looked at her. “So…A really, _really_ bad Grimm finally came calling.”

“Yeah…” Rosalee looked down, agitated. “I…I really don’t like Sloane meeting with him.”

Monroe put a hand on her shoulder. “You worried she’ll go to the dark side again?”

“No. No, I believe in Sloane. It’s this Collin guy I’m worried about…She told me about how it ended with him.”

“Okay, now I’m worried,” Monroe said. “Bad how?”

“Just…bad. I don’t want to go into it, she didn’t want to talk too much about it even before…”

“Okay…But if she’s meeting with him, she must be at least able to be in the same room with him.”

“I guess…” Rosalee looked at the clock. “I’m not going to be able to concentrate and it’s late in the day. You want to just pack up and head home?”

“Sure.” He kissed her temple and went to go get his things together. Rosalee tried not to get too much more anxious, but still couldn’t help the worry digging into her gut.

\------------------------

Sloane was finishing getting things together for the practice out in the woods. Trubel had already gone to the trailer to read before hand to read some of Nick’s collection. She’d gotten through a lot of what Sloane had on hand already.

She paused when there was a knock at the door and frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Had Collin followed her? The thought made her break out in a sweat. But she couldn’t be sure. She grabbed up a push dirk blade and fitted the handle in her palm and her fingers around the handle with her fingers under the bolster and the blade sticking up over her middle and index finger. There was another knock and she moved up to the door and looked out. She relaxed when she saw two familiar faces out there and quickly shoved the dagger into a drawer in the table by the door. “Ben?”

“Hey, um…is this a bad time?”

“Not exactly…what brings you by?”

“Uh, this.” Ben said, holding up a box. “I meant to call but I was in the neighborhood and I didn’t want to have this in my car much longer…”

“Ah yes,” she nodded, taking it. She felt the weight of it and knew inside was the blue china jar that held the Golem’s clay, and the scroll with the prayer to raise it.

“You sure you know where to put it?” he asked worriedly.

“I know,” she nodded, going to set the package down. “As dangerous as it is, it’d be a shame to destroy a part of history…”

“I agree,” he nodded, sighing. “I’ve learned my lesson as far as dealing with “legends”. Oh, David says hi. He wanted to come, but he’s back in school.”

Sloane smiled. “Well, normally I’d be happy to chat, but I do have to head out in a bit…”

“Right, yeah. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“It’s not that. Um…actually, I’d like to ask a favor”

“From me?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I’d like to brush up on my Hebrew. I’m out of practice.”

“Really?” He slowly smiled. “Sure, of course.”

“But I’m not sure about coming to Temple yet,” she added quickly.

“That’s fine,” he nodded. “I can get you some of the books we give the kids to start with. They’re nice, with nice pictures.”

“Oh, fun,” she laughed.

“Can I ask why? I mean, no judgement. Religion isn’t for everyone, and I didn’t expect you to still be practicing.”

“I’m not. I…my grandmother was teaching me, before she was killed,” Sloane said honestly. “I’d like to carry it on. But…me and God have a complicated relationship. If he exists, I may try to fight him,” she said.

Ben’s eyes widened. “…I believe you. But you know, our sect…we’re flexible on the God thing.”

“…Huh?”

He smiled. “I’ll bring some books to help explain that too. Chanukah’s coming up, but I’ll leave that up to you too.”

“Yeah…gotta think on that one,” she nodded.

“Right. But I don’t want to keep you.”

“Right, yeah. I’ll take this where it needs to go soon,” she nodded to the box.

“Thanks again. I’ll talk to you later,” he nodded and headed back out the door and Sloane sighed softly. She went and locked the box in a chest in her closet for the time being, then grabbed the bag of training weapons to head out. She still caught herself looking around, paranoid that Collin was around. But she didn’t see a sign of him and got in the car to drive off.

\------------------------

Trubel took a deep breath, keeping her eyes closed behind the blindfold. She tried to focus on her ears. Turning her head minutely, she heard something off to her right. She was tensing to move but heard the whistle as the dodge ball flew and hit her in the chest. “Ow!”

“I did not throw it that hard,” Sloane said, a chuckle in her voice.

“Harder than necessary…” Trubel grumbled.

“Work on dodging then. I taught you how to roll and slide. I know you can hear and sense it, but you keep hesitating and second guessing yourself.”

Trubel pushed the blindfold up and pouted. “Is this the best way?”

“It’s effective and won’t cause us grievous bodily harm way. Unless you want me to let a little air out, might leave a nice welt then.” She tapped her hands over the ball teasingly.

“No thanks,” She answered honestly. “Just...Can we do something else? I don’t think my Grimm hearing is up to this yet…”

Sloane smiled, not perturbed at all. She knew Deirdre would’ve gotten on her case about complaining but…that didn’t feel right to do to Trubel. “Sure. How about you see about getting the drop on me? Work on hunting me. Bonus to get me from above because you need to work on jumping and landing.”

Trubel smiled, maybe looking forward to a little revenge. “That sounds good.”

“Grab one of the padded clubs. I’m not going down without a fight. I’ll start off through the woods a bit while you do.”

Trubel nodded and headed back to where all their stuff was, near the trailer. Sloane headed off through the woods at a moderate pace, covering her tracks as she did. As she did though, she felt like she was being watched. Trubel couldn’t have caught up that fast, and it was almost silent. But she knew someone was there. Slowing her pace slightly she opened her senses a bit more.

Sure enough, someone’s soft footsteps were just behind her. They reached out for her shoulder, but before they could grab it she kicked out. Grabbing the knife from her boot as she did, she brought it up against the throat of her follower when he blocked her foot.

“Easy there, love!” a familiar voice exclaimed.

"Collin?!" She pulled the knife away, backpedaling in shock. “What are you doing here?”

Collin smirked. “I got impatient.”

“And how did you find me?” she said more clearly.

“You said you’d be doing something out here in the woods, I drove till I saw your car. I still remember it well. Then I just tracked you down using my senses.”

Sloane narrowed her eyes, sheathing the knife again in her boot. "Yeah, because that’s not creepy.”

“Aye, yes, I admit a tad extreme. But I’ve been trying to tell you this is a bit urgent. I can’t keep waiting around while you’re doing whatever you’re doing out here. What are you doing? Seem a little calm for a hunt.” He eyed her a bit suspiciously. "What could be so damned important you would stay here? How long have you been staying in this area anyway?"

"I don't know...Not too long.” she shrugged. _A year and a half, but you don’t need to know that._

"Well, I know for a fact it’s been in this city for over a year.”

 _Shit._ She arched her eyebrow. “And how do you know that?”

“I ask the right questions of the right people, you know that,” he said with a grin. “But the library’s been closed for Grimms since several months ago. What have you been doing all this time? You're one of the best of us; you shouldn't be having any problem tracking and offing your target."

"I don't have one target exactly..." she said slowly.

"What, is there a lot of them here? I'm willing to help you like I said. It'll be just like Prague way back when."

Sloane frowned disapprovingly. "I'm not looking to repeat Prague."

She was actually surprised when he looked shamed. “Ah, not the fire…I…I know I messed up there, Sloane. I tried to reason it away as the ends justifying the means, but I’ve come to realize I can’t. I’m sorry about that whole thing.”

She eyed him before sighing.” Collin, I don't really have time to reminisce. I'm here training—”

"Sloane?" a voice called out, interrupting them. She cursed under her breath, turning her eyes heaven ward as if to ask what she did to make some powerful being so angry.

Trubel came through the forest, still grasping the club. She looked at Collin and gripped it a bit tighter. “Who’s this guy?”

Collin arched his eyebrows, looking her up and down. "And who's this then?"

"I asked first, buddy..." Trubel replied in her usual defensive manner.

Sloane sighed and went over, gently patting her shoulder. “It’s okay, Trubel, I know him. Collin, this is Teresa Rubel, or Trubel as we affectionately call her.” She smiled at Trubel, surprising Collin. “Trubel, this is Collin Donahue. Collin is a Grimm as well."

"As well?" Collin asked before Trubel could say anything. He smiled and walked over, offering his hand. “Well, always nice to meet a fellow.”

“Um, yeah,” Trubel said, moving the club to her other hand to shake his. “I don’t know many, to be honest. I’m, uh…new to this.”

"Oooh, so she's your apprentice? Why didn’t you say you were mentoring someone?” Collin laughed. “That’s a perfectly good reason to stick around for a bit! Though really, you should be traveling around more if you want to give her the real Grimm experience.”

“It’s still a new arrangement,” she said evasively.

“Well, why don’t I help out?” he grinned. “You and I trained together all the time after all. In all sorts of things.”

Trubel blushed a little at the insinuation but Sloane just looked impatient. “Collin…”

“Just joking around…But I do have something I need to talk to you about. Why don't you and I meet up somewhere nice and quiet to talk now?" he grinned.

“I still have some stuff I need to do…”

“It’s important,” he said more seriously.

Sloane hesitated but then sighed and looked at Trubel. “You mind us calling it good for today?”

“No, that’s fine,” Trubel said, “I’ll meet you later?”

“Actually, you should come too, new girl,” Collin said. “This might be a good thing for you to get in on too.” He pulled out a slip of paper and offered to Sloane. “Here’s where I’m staying, meet me there as soon as you’re ready.”

Sloane took it and looked at it. “…Fine.”

“You still don’t seem happy to see me,” he teased.

“I’m agreeing to meet you, be thankful for that,” she stated, narrowing her eyes.

He held up his hands in mock surrender, turning to walk back off through the woods.

"...That's guys another Grimm?" Trubel asked, watching him go curiously.

"Yes,” she said, motioning him to follow as they headed back towards her car.

“And you two…have thing?” she asked delicately.

“ _Had_ a thing. I broke it off a long, long time ago,” she said. She hoped her tone got across how done she already was with him.

Trubel nodded, that much being obvious. “So, we’re going to meet him, right?”

“I’m going, I’m not sure you should…” Sloane said slowly.

“What? C’mon, he invited me along,” Trubel said, bristling.

She carded through her hair, sighing. She didn’t really like this train of conversation. “Trubel, Collin is not like Nick, or even me.”

“What, you’re worried he’ll be a bad influence on me?” Trubel laughed.

“Honestly, yes,” she said plainly.

Trubel was surprised and frowned more. “I’m not a kid…What kind of Grimm is he?”

Sloane sighed, and paused in packing up. “He’s…traditional. Like how I was when I first came here, a shoot first and ask questions later kind of Grimm. Except…I’d say he’s even worse because he’s reckless.” Trubel frowned a bit, knowing that Sloane was vehement she not just go around killing wesen. “But the fact is, I can’t let him know I’m not that kind of Grimm anymore. Because then he’ll start wanting to know more about why I’m here. We need to get him out of here before he finds out about Monroe, Rosalee and the others. Because he will _kill_ them. No questions.”

Trubel frowned again worriedly. “Okay…I mean, couldn’t we explain?”

“No, not to him. He cannot meet them, _period._ And Nick too. Those two meeting would be like gasoline meeting a lit match. And he especially can’t find out about you and I working with them. Collin has a temper and big mouth and if he tells certain other people...Let's just say there are confrontations I want to avoid even more than him. So, whatever happens, don’t tell him about any of them, okay? Please?” she added, looking honestly worried.

Trubel nodded slowly they finished packing up. “…I want to go too though. I mean…knowing another Grimm could be good, right?” she said carefully. “Even if it’s just knowing what not to do? Plus, he’ll be suspicious if I don’t go.”

Sloane pinched the bridge of her nose, thinking. “…Alright. But, you follow my lead.”

“Right, will do,” she smiled. Sloane had a bad feeling about this all the same.

\---------------------

Sloane and Trubel pulled up to the motel. Collin was waiting outside, smiling when he saw them. “Glad to see you made it. Was worried I’d have to come hunt you down again.”

“Seriously, Collin, that’s not a great way to phrase this,” Sloane said, crossing her arms. “I don’t want to worry about you stalking me.”

“Oh come now, we haven’t hardly interacted in what, over 7 years? At least that long since we last had a proper conversation. Can’t you be a little happy to see me?”

“Be thankful I am even talking to you,” Sloane said tersely. “I’m trying to be civil, but you need to stop acting like you did nothing wrong.”

Collin frowned but sighed. “Fair enough, I stepped over some lines.” She gave him a look. “Okay, _a lot_ of lines. I got impatient and emotional and I did some very wrong things in trying to do things you weren’t ready for. I admit that, and I’m sorry.”

At that Sloane was surprised. She had not expected Collin to finally apologize for what he did. He’d mostly blamed her all this time. She’d told Rosalee a little of the story before: 7 years ago, he had tried to tamper with her birth control and get her pregnant—and had met her anger with his own anger. And jealousy. And trying to pin her down and—

She shook herself and looked at him. “So, I’m not “overly emotional”?”

“I know, I said bad things too,” he said, looking ashamed. That was also new for him. “But I’m not like that anymore, I promise. I’m trying to do better and part of that is wanting to at least be a friend to you. Any teasing is just teasing.”

Sloane didn’t feel convinced but could feel Trubel’s excitement next to her and sighed. “Fine. We’re here, what did you need to talk about?”

“Inside, please,” he said, opening the door to his motel room. Sloane eyed him but then walked through, Trubel close behind. It was like any other cheap motel room, with an ugly carpet and bedspread that had seen better days. A small table and chairs were in the corner, near the TV unit with an older model TV on it. With quality like this, they probably didn’t ask questions though.

Sloane sat down at a nearby chair, folding her arms expectantly. Trubel sat at the other chair.

“Alright,” Collin began, rubbing his hands together. “I need your help with a hunt. I’ve already got a small group, but I knew you’d be a huge asset given your skills.”

“Group hunting?” Sloane asked with a frown. “I know I broke away first, but I thought we’d all split ways. What in the hell are you after you need a group?”

Collin grinned in excitement. “There’s a _community_ of Wendigos.”

Sloane’s eyebrows rose. “Community? Seriously?”

“I know those,” Trubel said, looking between them. “But do they live in communities?”

“No. A few family members maybe, but whole communities aren’t known to live together,” Sloane said.

“Aye! I was shocked too, but following a lead, tracked one back to it and it’s this whole little village they made in the woods. A commune! A sick little cult. Like a couple of big houses, a bunch to a house, grouped together on a bit of land out in Idaho. We think they’ve been there for only a few years; they seem young.”

“They like…eat people, don’t they?” Trubel clarified, remembering the ones she’d seen and tried to eat her.

“That they do,” he nodded, sobering slightly. “These bastards have been picking off people visiting the Rockies for years. Kidnapping others from towns too. Cooking them up and eating them.”

“That’s awful!” Trubel said.

“Yes…So you’re planning on going after the whole commune? At once?” Sloane asked slowly, doubting that was wise from her tone.

“Aye. There’s about fifty of them, and as much as I like to think I’m tough shit even I think that many Wendigos is too many for one Grimm.”

“Fifty?!” Sloane gaped. “Fifty—you want to go fight fifty Wendigos grouped in the same place? That’s suicide.”

“I told you not alone, even I’m not that daft,” he said dryly. “I’m getting together a good-sized group of some of the best Grimms I know…that I can find. Basically, I’m getting the band back together! But you were at the top of my list. Lucky me you aren’t that far from Idaho now, eh?” he grinned.

Sloane eyed him. “How did you track me down?”

“Oh, you know, just usual tracking techniques…” he said evasively.

“Collin,” she warned.

“Ugh, fine,” he sighed. “I called the Library Network, asked if you’d gone to any of the dealer rooms lately. You went to the one here in Portland twice in one year before It folded up…I figured I’d be able to track you backwards. I honestly didn’t think you were still here.”

“Yes, well, things change and come up suddenly. Portland ended up being a good place to stop over.”

Collin leaned in, looking at her seriously for the first time. “Look, Sloane, I know we don’t have the best history, but I also know you’re not going to let a bunch of Wendigos keep hunting down innocent people.”

Sloane frowned, looking torn. “…Who all do you have signed on to this?”

He smiled. “Jacob, Antonio and Melinda.”

“Ah…You really are getting the band back together?” she chuckled. “I haven’t seen them in a long time. What about Amy?”

“…Ah, I guess you didn’t hear with the library down…Amy was killed in a hunt three months ago,” he said somberly, looking down.

Sloane froze and then looked down as well. “Oh…I…Yeah, I didn’t hear…”

“That’s…how I heard about this.” He pulled out a letter. “She dictated her Dead Letter to me. Amy was tracking this commune first. They’re the ones that…”

“…Why didn’t you just say that before?” Sloane asked, looking at the letter with a dark expression. She reached for it, but he pulled it away.

“Well, I suppose I hoped you’d want to help _me_ for old times sake…and it’s still a sore spot as well.”

Sloane growled slightly. “Help _you_ , huh?”

“Well how long since you talked with Amy anyway?” he snapped. Sloane flinched and he sighed. “I’m sorry, Sloane…I just…She came back in bad shape. Barely had time to write the letter before she passed. They took one of her arms! I had to watch her go.”

Sloane was quiet and Trubel looked at her worriedly before she sighed. “Okay…I need to make some arrangements but then we’ll come help.”

“How long?”

“Give me tomorrow. We’ll leave Wednesday morning.”

He nodded. “Alright. Need any help?”

“No, I’ve got it.” She stood. “We’ll meet you here at sunrise that morning. How long is the drive?”

“About 7 to 8 hours.”

“We’ll be ready then,” she sighed, heading for the door. “C’mon, Trubel.”

Trubel quickly got up and followed. “Uh…nice to meet you.”

“You too. Look forward to seeing what you can do,” he grinned.

Sloane gave him a warning look and grabbed Trubel’s hand to pull her out. “Hey!”

“See you Wednesday, Collin. Don’t call unless it’s an emergency.” She got in the car and Trubel got in next to her.

“…Is he really that bad?” she asked hesitantly.

“I admit he apologized well and that’s rare for him…” Sloane muttered, her keys out to start the car. “But I don’t want to get too comfortable. I’ve learned a lot being away from him and that includes that he wasn’t the best boyfriend even before our huge fight.”

“…Who’s Amy?”

She sighed as she pulled away from the Motel. “…Back when I was your age—maybe even younger—I started traveling with 5 other Grimms around my age. Collin, Jacob, Antonio, Melinda and Amy. Amy was the youngest…I was hard on her, but she was too freaking nice for this kind of work. Like…she should’ve been a kindergarten teacher. She didn’t have a proper mentor, was learning by going with us after her parents were killed. I was most worried about leaving her, but…I couldn’t stick around after calling it off with Collin.” She squeezed the steering wheel. “…These people were the closest things I had to friends at one time, but I didn’t really keep in touch. Knowing she’s gone and it was because of this…”

“I’m sorry…” Trubel said quietly. “Why…I mean, “closest thing”?”

“…All of us have lost people we care about. All of us watched each other get hurt, injured, nearly killed…we tried to find a balance between having fun, watching each other’s backs, but not getting too close because…well, no guarantees in life. Staying here I took a lot of chances getting closer than I did with them probably…”

“…It still hurts though, huh?” she asked knowingly.

She sighed deeply again. “Let’s just…go home and get some rest. I’ll have to call in tomorrow to get some time off. Then we’ll need to pack”

“Right,” Trubel nodded.

\---------------

“So, Sloane’s Ex is in town?” Juliette asked, sitting down to dinner with Nick.

“Yeah…She makes him sound pretty bad too. Is it bad I’m kind of surprised she, well…had one?” he asked guiltily.

“No, it’s surprising,” she nodded. “I mean, given what she has told us about growing up and her life as a traveling Grimm, I sort of figured she didn’t date. I mean, how would she?”

“I think they’re dating was hunting,” Nick said.

“Romantic,” she grimaced.

“Sorry, should I eat upstairs?” Josh asked, pausing in the entrance to the dining room.

“No, Josh, come eat,” Nick said. “We were just talking about something Sloane has to deal with.”

“A bad date?”

“No, a bad ex.”

“Ah, wow. Didn’t know Grimms had mundane problems too,” he said, taking a plate of chicken stir fry when Juliette offered it.

“How you holding up?” she asked.

“Uh…as well as I can be not knowing what the hell I’m going to do now,” he sighed. “I mean, thank you so much for putting me up, but…I don’t want to have to stay here forever, no offense. I don’t think you guys want that either.”

“We want you to stay safe more than anything,” Nick said honestly. “We’re going to try and figure out a safe option for you.”

He smiled gratefully. “Thanks…I’m worried whatever is looking for me follows me here though.”

“If it does it’ll have a lot more to deal with.”

Juliette nodded and then grimaced a bit. “Ugh…I think I messed up the chicken, it’s way too much spice.”

“Tastes fine to me,” Nick said.

“Yeah, me too,” Josh said.

“Huh…is it just me?” she took a gulp of water. “Usually I’m good with spiced up stuff.”

“Hopefully you’re not getting sick,” Nick frowned.

“Would that usually make it harder to taste things?” Josh asked.

“I don’t think I’m getting sick…I’ll take something later though,” she sighed.

\---------------

Renard looked up when there was a knock at the door shortly after he arrived. It was early, and he didn’t expect someone already. “Come in.”

Sloane opened the door. “Hey…”

“Hey…is this case related or…?”

“Other,” she said, closing the door.

“The other Grimm?”

“Yeah…I’ve made a deal with him. He needs help with a hunt. We leave tomorrow.”

He arched his brow. “Didn’t think to clear this one by me?”

“It’s the only way he’s going to leave without asking more questions,” she sighed. “Plus, it is a pretty serious issue. A giant group of Wendigos.”

“…Hmm, that is concerning…Where?”

“Idaho. If I leave tomorrow, I’m hoping we’ll be back by Sunday. Trubel wants to come with me.”

“So, you need the rest of the week off?”

“Yeah.”

Renard sighed, looking at her pensively. “Sloane, this isn’t you slipping backwards is it? You said this was your ex-boyfriend.”

“Ha…trust me, I don’t want to stick with Collin longer than I have to,” she said bitterly.

“You sure?”

“Would you take Adalind back so easily?”

He hummed and nodded at her point. “Then why go at all? Surely there’s others.”

Sloane hesitated but sighed. “The one who found out about this commune was another old friend of mine…She died getting away from the Wendigos. Her last request was taking care of them. I want to help.”

Renard took a breath then nodded slowly. He could understand that. “Okay…Give me a call if you’ll be gone longer than after Monday, alright?”

She nodded. “I need to go prepare today then. Nick and Hank should have anything that crops up covered.”

He nodded. “Alright. And I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Thanks…wish I’d talked to her more now,” Sloane said honestly.

“That’s always how it is I think when we find something like this out. Just do what you can but stay safe.”

She nodded and headed out. As she was leaving though, Hank and Nick were coming up the steps and she groaned quietly, having hoped to do this later.

“Hey! Where’re you going?” Hank asked.

“Home. I have to prepare to leave.”

They looked at each other in surprise and then back at her. “Uh, bit more of an explanation please?” Nick said.

“…Later, at the Spice shop? I need to let Monroe and Rosalee know too.”

“Alright…” he said. “But…You’re okay, right?”

Sloane smiled a little despite herself. “I’m fine. I’ll explain later. Renard already knows, I’ve got time off. Let’s meet for lunch at the shop.”

They nodded, watching her go to the garage. “…Why does this worry me?” Hank asked.

“Me too. We’re either paranoid or psychic,” Nick huffed.

Hank smiled wryly. “No, we’re just detectives with suspicious natures.”

Nick smiled in agreement, but still couldn’t shake the worried feeling as they headed in. He thought about asking Renard what Sloane had said but decided to trust that she would tell them.

Sloane meanwhile went home to go through her weapons with Trubel—debating over the ones that would be best to bring, sharpening a few and inspecting them overall. Sloane had been meaning to do an overhaul of them for a while and this was at least a good start.

As she was going through things she paused and sat down at her desk to pull out the old scrap book. She hadn’t put anything new in it in several months—she didn’t feel compelled to collect articles or bits of things since after going back to her childhood home almost a year ago. Looking through the earlier pages though, she found what she was looking for and pulled out an old photograph. In it was a younger Sloane, wearing a knit cap and looking a bit more punk—she didn’t really know how to dress herself then. Collin was next to her, his arm around her and grinning. There was a boy with tan skin and dark hair in a ponytail up close, having taken the picture, making a funny face. Another boy with sandy blonde hair was next to Collin making a stupid face as well, and a beautiful dark-skinned woman was next to him. And then next in front of Collin was a petite girl with red-blonde hair and dark lipstick laughing.

“Sloane?” She looked up to see Trubel in the doorway. “Hey, uh…you okay?”

“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine,” she sighed.

Trubel walked over and looked down. “…Those your friends?”

“Yeah…That’s Amy,” she pointed to the girl with red-blonde hair. “Amelia Blakely. Met her when she was 17. Parents died a year before; she didn’t want a mentor but wanted to know what to look out for and how to fight. So, she came with us. The rest of us were…assholes,” she laughed. “We were together since our late teens and just didn’t care about anything but hunting wesen and getting our fun where we could outside of that. Like, Antonio took this with a camera he stole from a hunt and just took a bunch of pictures with it. We thought we were tough shit. Invincible…”

“Well…you made it this far?” Trubel said.

“Yeah…most of us.” She closed the book and set it down again. “Let’s finish packing. Then we’re having lunch with the others.”

“Okay…”

They finished up most of the packing of the weapons before heading to the shop. Rosalee looked up and tried to smile. “Hey…Nick and Hank are on their way.”

“Good,” she nodded.

“…Sloane, does this have to do with Collin? I remember what you said about him…” She glanced at Trubel.

“It does, but…there are other things going on.”

Nick and Hank arrived then, with Juliette and Josh behind them. “Hey, got the sandwiches…”

“Full house,” Monroe said with a smile. “I’ll go clear off the table in the side room.”

“Should we be worried that’s where you prepare a lot of this stuff…?” Hank asked.

“…I’ll wipe it down too.”

They chuckled and went to go help. Sloane started explaining everything as they ate, and everyone had stopped eating to look at her. Monroe had even paused mid chew of his veggie delight.

“You’re going _with_ him?” Rosalee barked.

“Yes, I know,” she sighed.

“Are you really sure this is a good idea?” Nick asked worriedly. “I mean, you told us this guy was super bad news.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t know. He seems at least a little more mature. Seven years will do that to some people.”

Rosalee looked at her worried. “You’re not thinking of getting back with him?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that?! I have no interest in being with him again, but I can stand him for a hunt. I’ve had to stand him on occasion in the past after all, I just usually left before we got to talking more than necessary.”

“But you don’t want to encourage him to hang around, right?”

“No—look, I get that after what I said about him, going with him is a bit surprising,” she said impatiently. “But a big community of Wendigos is a big deal. An old friend of mine was killed by them. I don’t want to sit out this one, and I’m not here to ask permission.”

They glanced at one another and then sighed. “Okay. We trust your judgment, really,” Monroe said. “We’re just…worried.”

She smiled back, relaxing now. “I know. I appreciate that. We both do. But I’m not going to let anything happen to either of us.”

“Yeah, plus it’ll be my first job outside of Portland,” Trubel nodded. “Well, I mean where I know what I’m up against.”

“I guess it’s good experience then,” Nick nodded. “Are you sure I shouldn’t come though?”

“Again, yes,” Sloane said. “For one thing, a Grimm should be staying behind, in case something comes up.” She glanced at Monroe and Rosalee and then back to him. “And B, you will not like these Grimms, and they will not like you.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said wryly.

“I’m serious, Nick. I’d personally would like you to come because the more Grimms the better and quite frankly, you were bad ass during that Phansigar fight. You barely got touched. And you broke one of their tongues with your fist!” she finished with a grin.

“We’re eating,” Hank reminded her, working his tongue sympathetically.

“Sorry,” she laughed. “But I’m in no way worried about your skills, Nick,” she said honestly.

Nick smiled. “Okay, that makes me feel a little better.”

“So, it’s just that he’d clash with the others?” Juliette asked.

“Yeah. Collin especially isn’t big on new guys—definite Alpha Male type. Girls he’s okay with,” she said, glancing at Trubel. She then looked at Monroe and Rosalee. “Plus, it’ll be easier to make sure they don’t find out about you guys. You’ve got enough to worry about without adding trying to fight these guys into the mix.”

“That I appreciate,” Monroe nodded. “But I mean…if these guys are that bad, you sure you want to go?”

“They aren’t…bad,” she sighed. “I mean, Collin might be in a lot of ways, but he’s not some mindless killer—he’s just extreme. And he’s gotten better since he actually apologized for some of what he did. I don’t trust him enough to have him stick around, but I think he’ll at least be good on the hunt and that these Wendigos are bad news. I’d also rather make sure he doesn’t go overboard again…”

“…Sure, it’s just not nostalgia?” Nick asked.

She gave him a flat look. “Have I not said enough “I don’t like him” enough? Or am I not allowed to be upset an old friend is dead?”

“I didn’t mean that,” Nick said gently, not getting upset like she expected. She wanted him to in a way—fighting would maybe get her to stop thinking about how she didn’t _want_ him to be upset or dislike her. “I’m just worried…I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Sloane blushed and then looked down. “…Thanks, but I’m not going to let him hurt me. Or the Wendigos. And they won’t hurt Trubel either.”

The others looked at one another but then nodded slowly. “Okay. Just be careful and let us know if anything happens,” Rosalee said.

“And don’t sleep with your ex. That never ends well, I know.” He paused, glancing at Rosalee who arched her brow at him. “That was before we got together, of course, and will never ever, ever, ever happen again. Obviously.”

“Good save,” she said, patting his arm. The others all chuckled a bit.

“Again, no worries there,” Sloane said. Rosalee looked at her now and she smiled a bit to show she wasn’t worried. She really wasn’t.

\------------------

The next morning, Trubel and Sloane were up before dawn to load into her car and head to Collin’s motel. He was waiting outside next to his own car, a newer blue SUV with Massachusetts plates. He smiled when they pulled up and went over to Sloane’s door. She rolled down the window. “Well, top of the morning! Here I worried you might blow me off.”

“If it wasn’t an emergency, I’d consider it a lot more heavily,” she said. She held out her hands. “Directions?”

He set a printout in her hand and she handed it to Trubel. “I set it to a nearby motel. We’ll meet up with the others there to discuss the best strategy.”

“Sounds good,” she said, moving to roll the window back up. He set a hand on it.

“Sloane…I know whether to forgive me or not is your choice and I’m not going to push too hard. But I really am trying.”

She looked up at him and sighed. “You want me to stop holding it against you? Let me decide when that is.”

He sighed but held up his hands. “Fair enough…can we at least all have lunch together? There’s a nice place in a town we hit about noon I remember.”

“We’ll see. You have my number.” She rolled up the window and pulled out to head to the highway. She was reminded of the road trip she took with Nick back to Wildred a few months ago. At that time, she’d focused on keeping in contact as much as possible with walkie-talkies and the like. Now she had Trubel riding shotgun and she didn’t want to talk to Collin as long as possible. But it hit her again she did wish she had let Nick come with them. Then she was frustrated with herself because she wanted that. _You need to get that under control…Nick’s nice to you because that’s how he is. He’s a good friend. But he’s in love with Juliette…and that’s good. You don’t need the kind of drama that comes with this sort of thing. It’s just a little crush—maybe not even that! I just have to ride it out._

“You okay?”

She started at the question and looked at Trubel. “I’m fine. Just…hoping this is a quick hunt. Easy is asking too much with fifty Wendigos…”

“Well…a gun might help? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like the blades too, but I’m not as good with a spear as you and I don’t want them coming at my throat…”

Sloane frowned but nodded. “I know, but I don’t have many. I know Collin and the others will though and one of them will have an extra you can borrow. Just…be careful.”

“Nick took me to the shooting range, I will be.”

She blinked and glanced at her. “He did?”

“Yeah. He figured I should know how to use one—but he’s not getting me one. I need to figure out how to get one that won’t require a background check or one of you two having it on your record…”

“…We have weapons specialists. I’ll give them a call; they’ll be able to get you something. But while you’re living with me, I want it properly stored. Unloaded, in a secure place.”

“You really don’t like them, huh?” she asked, a little surprised.

Sloane sighed but then smiled wearily. “I’ll tell you a few stories from my time with Collin and the others while we drive…including that one.”

Trubel was eager to hear more, but as the stories went on, she realized how much Sloane had to deal with. Trubel had dealt with cuts and bit marks and the like—but traveling in a group had its own problems. The drama, the infighting, jealousy, were all prices to pay for having someone at your back and the closest to friends a bunch of people raised to be paranoid survivalists could have. She talked about Maria, the 15-year-old girl she’d killed by just firing and not looking. Trubel understood why she was leery of using a gun now even though she was certain Sloane wouldn’t make that mistake again. There were also stories of a pack of blutbader—one of whom had killed her grandmother. She’d tracked him down with the others help and they took care of them since they were also picking off others in their territory. She’d tracked down a lot of the other wesen that had attacked them and got away too.

“One is still out there…” She finished, sipping from her second water bottle. She was getting tired from talking.

“…Are you going to go find him?” Trubel asked.

“I looked for a long time. Now…I don’t know,” she admitted. “I like living in Portland. Nothing good lasts so I know I’ll have to go sometime but…I’d like to make the most of it.”

“…If you did know, where he was, what would you do?”

“…Huh…it’s a harder question than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “The man is a Blutbad as well. I…still hate him, but it doesn’t hurt as much…”

Trubel was quiet, unsure how to question that further. They drove in silence for a while before, around noon, her phone rang. “I got it,” Trubel said. “Uh…Not sure about this number?”

“Probably Collin, he switches phones more often. Go on.”

She accepted the call and held it up to her ear. “This is Trubel.”

“Oh, that’s a fun way to answer the phone,” Collin laughed. Trubel blushed a bit. “But hello, Trubel. This is Collin.”

“I figured. Um, Sloane is driving so I’m doing the talking.”

“Right, I figured. We’re coming up on a little town called Coperas, that’s pretty much our halfway point. And there’s a nice place to eat here too called Barton’s Well. I have it marked on the directions.”

“Uhh…yeah, I see it,” she nodded, seeing the other page.

“It’s a good place—Kind of an American pub but with nicer food. I think Sloane will like it.”

“Just a sec,” She pulled the phone away. “He has a restaurant in mind for lunch. It’s like a pub?”

Sloane pursed her lips and then looked at Trubel. “…You hungry?”

“Starving, to be honest,” she nodded.

Sloane sighed. “Alright, we’ll meet him there. I need to get gas anyway.”

Trubel smiled and relayed message.

“Great! I’ll see you then.” He hanged up and Trubel did as well.

It was only a few minutes later they headed into the town. It was small but bustling, being rather close to the Umatilla National Forest. A bit of a tourist town but still scenic and lovely. Sloane stopped for gas first at a station near the restaurant. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out to see a text from Rosalee.

Rosalee: _How’s the drive so far?_

Sloane sighed a bit as she thought that over.

Sloane: _Long. Telling old hunting stories to Trubel._

Rosalee: _I put mace in your bag._

She blinked.

Sloane: … _Why?_

Rosalee: _In case Collin tries anything._

She blinked again and tried not to laugh.

Sloane: _You realize I have worse things than mace, right?_

Rosalee: _Yeah, but mace can be used in public._

Sloane: _You have a point. But he’s behaving so far._

Rosalee: _Well, better safe than sorry._

Sloane: _Thanks. I’ll let you know when we get to our destination._

Rosalee: _Let Nick and Hank know too, they’re worried._

She blushed a bit and smiled.

Sloane: _I will. Now worry about you and Monroe. If anything happens call and I’ll rush back. Hell, I might ask you to make something up._

Rosalee: _Let me know what you need ;3_

She laughed and sent a bye note when her gas finished. Trubel came back out with drinks and snacks to the car and looked at her askance. “We’re about to go to lunch…”

“These are for later,” she said.

Sloane just shook her head with a smile and climbed back in to get to the restaurant’s parking lot nearby. Collin waved when he saw them, and she sighed and girded herself for an awkward lunch.

“There’s my lovely lunchmates!” he sang when they walked up.

“Uh huh. Why this place in particular?” Sloane asked, looking at the pub-like exterior.

“Tried it on the way in and liked it. Plus, reminds me of London. The Crown and Lion?” he said, smiling charmingly.

“That was a long time ago,” she reminded him, heading in. Trubel followed and they were lucky to get a booth just at the lunch rush was starting. Sloane had to admit it brought back memories. Collin had brought her to the UK to hunt where he was first raised. She’d been 18 and they’d been dumb hormonal teenagers, so she had a feeling what he was remembering was different from what she focused on. _I should go back to London…maybe tour some of the places Oma was during the war now that I know._

“They really lay on the British here,” Trubel said, looking at the menu.

“A bit thick, yeah, but it’s still good. Ever been across the pond?”

“Me? No,” she laughed. “I’ve traveled a lot but only here in the US…I don’t have a passport.”

He smiled and leaned in. “Neither do I, strictly speaking. We have ways.” He winked.

“Really?” she asked, brightening.

“Oh, aye. Be a bit hard for us to keep up with those sorts of things. Got some contact that can-do passports, licenses, the whole shebang!”

“We still need to figure a few things out before then,” Sloane reminded him.

“Oh, sure, not a quick step. But you’ll need to travel a bit! Grimms ain’t the kind to set up roots.”

Trubel glanced at Sloane but just smiled. “Maybe…”

\-----------------------

Nick glanced at Sloane’s empty desk and sighed, tapping his pen against his mug.

“I realize you think it’s quiet, buddy, but that’s getting a bit annoying,” Hank said, looking up from a report he was proof-reading.

Nick blushed and smiled ruefully. “Sorry. Just…I got used to be a trio. Feels weird with her gone.”

“She’ll be back in a few days,” Hank smiled. Nick nodded but he didn’t look comforted. “You still worried about her?”

“…A little. The situation she described sounds rough. I worry about her and Trubel. I know she’s not comfortable with how this is all going down either…I would just prefer being there to watch their backs.”

“Hey, she’s going to have other Grimms there. She wouldn’t have gone if she thought they were a danger to her or Trubel in a short visit.”

“I know, I know,” he sighed, tossing the pen down. “But I finally got my powers back and waiting in the wings wasn’t my first choice on the matter. She didn’t really give me one though.”

Hank shrugged. “Call her later then to check in. She didn’t’ say you couldn’t do that.”

Nick frowned. “Is that too much like a worried brother to call her when she’s gone?”

“It’s like being a worried friend,” Hank said. “Call her, I’ll text or something. But I’m pretty confident the Sloane we know is going to kick ass and be home real soon.”

Nick smiled and nodded, knowing he was being silly worrying so much.

“Hey, guys,” Wu said, walking over. “Got a case for you…Where’s Sloane?”

“Out for a few days on _business_ ,” Hank said.

“Oh, without us?”

“Out of state,” Nick nodded.

“Didn’t realize you traveled for this sort of work…Well, on our end it’s just a normal robbery turned homicide I’m pretty sure. I don’t think you’ll need your special skills for this.”

“Great…” Nick said blandly, taking the folder. “What puts this in our hands then?”

“Your turn basically. Here’s the address, the officers on scene will fill you in when you get there.” He handed them the paper and Nick and Hank headed out.

\--------------

After some decent fish and chips, Sloane finished off her soda and sighed. “Gonna hit the restroom then I’ll be ready to go.”

“So soon?” Collin asked.

“We’re done eating, I want to get there ASAP.” She headed for the restroom sign and Collin watched her go with a frown.

He then turned to look at Trubel. “…Trubel, is she usually like this?”

“Uh…well, Sloane is usually pretty goal oriented,” she said.

“But not usually this harsh, hm?” He sighed, looking dejected. “I’m trying to be patient and let her do a she wishes, but I also want her to bloody well forgive me…”

“…What did you do exactly?”

He blinked. “She didn’t tell you?” Trubel shook her head. “…I tried to rush things a bit. I thought we’d be married pretty quickly, figure out how to do the whole family thing. Grimms don’t usually have big families but my dad managed to have several little rugrats and I wanted the same. Though with one woman—he did have a couple of wives and I just wanted…Sloane,” he said honestly. “But she wasn’t ready, and it caused a big fight and some things were said I regret. I’ve tried to take them back, but she does hold a grudge…”

“…Well, it’s kind of up to her if she forgives you or not,” Trubel said, though she felt for him a little.

“Aye…Look, Trubel…do you like arcade games?”

She was thrown a moment but nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

“They got an arcade next door. I’ll give you a twenty to go play as many games as you can and give me a little time to talk with Sloane,” he said, smiling.

“Oh…I don’t know, I don’t think she’d like that,” she said with a grimace.

“C’mon!” He pulled out his wallet and grabbed the twenty, offering it to her. “You’re about to have to go on a hunt, might as well have a little less strenuous fun first. And I need to smooth things over with Sloane or we’re not going to work well together. I want to know we have each other’s backs like in the old days, even if she doesn’t want to do much more.”

“Sloane wouldn’t let you die or anything…” Trubel muttered. She looked at the twenty and then at Collin, doing some damn good puppy dog eyes. Sighing she grabbed the twenty. “I play till this runs out and then we leave.”

“Deal! Now go, quick, before she’s back.”

Trubel headed off, hoping Sloane wasn’t too angry with her later.

When Sloane returned and Trubel wasn’t there, she immediately looked at Collin. “Where did she go?”

“She saw an arcade and wanted to play some games. I thought it might be nice to let her do so for a bit, have a bit of fun.” Sloane narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Oy, you don’t have to give me that look! If you want to go find her, tell her the fun’s over, me my guest. You used to do it all the time back in the day.”

“…It’s fine,” she sighed, sitting down.

“Oh, so you have loosened up a bit,” he grinned.

“If I remember correctly, I was usually having to corral you and Antonio before you did something stupid or got us in trouble. Like stealing a garbage truck.”

Collin laughed but had the decency to look abashed. “Aye, yes, we were a bit bold sometimes.”

“Stupid was the word I usually used,” she reminded him, accepting a refill from the waitress with a smile and a nod. She motioned for the bills as well.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” he shrugged. “Look, Sloane…I want to say again I’m sorry. I messed up and I hurt you by…well, trying to make your choices for you. I’ve regretted it ever since.”

Sloane hesitated but sighed. “Fine. Thank you for the apology.”

Collin smiled broadly in relief, obviously thinking that was forgiveness. She decided to let it slide for now. “Thank you for finally accepting it. I don’t want to keep you angry at me—I know what you’re capable of,” he chuckled. “In all seriousness though, how long have you been in Oregon?”

“…A year or so,” she said, keeping to that timeline. “Trubel’s old enough we don’t have to worry about school like our mentor’s did. I figured sticking in one place would make it easier to catch her up on things.”

“She was untrained before?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah. Since she inherited, she and everyone else thought she was just crazy…” she said somberly. “Foster homes, Psychiatric hospitals, the streets…we ended up crossing paths after she killed a couple of wesen in self-defense and I was able to show her she’s not crazy. Till then she’s just been having to deal with wesen randomly assaulting her and no one believing her.”

“Shite…” he cursed. “I forget we’re lucky sometimes having family in the business.”

“…How’s your parents anyway?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Ah, well…Dad finally retired,” he sighed. “Didn’t have much choice, got his leg sliced open by a Malan Fatale.”

“I’m sorry,” she said honestly. “That must be driving him nuts though.”

“A wee bit, yeah,” he laughed. “Mum’s running the Dublin Library still. But none of the grandkids have inherited…no late bloomers among my brothers and sisters either. Just me. And they don’t want much to do with me either.”

Sloane looked at him in confusion. “Why?”

“Ah, well…I started telling Grimm stories to my nephews. They got pumped, wanted to learn. Thought it wouldn’t hurt to teach them. Just in case. Then they forgot weapons aren’t toys and one got cut up pretty bad…Another bad decision on my part,” he admitted, looking pensively into his beer. “I knew but got defensive…now they don’t want me near the kids. ‘Bad influence’. Dad’s getting to be a bit addled too and mum doesn’t want me working him up. So, I’m pretty much the black sheep now instead of the Golden Child I used to be.”

“…I’m sorry, Collin,” she said sincerely.

He smiled awkwardly and finished the beer to focus on the water. “I could hear your voice in my head at the time. “Collin, don’t, they’re kids and they’re not Grimms!”” he said in a higher voice, making Sloane roll her eyes. “I ignored it and as usual it bit me in the ass.” He sighed deeply. “I know I called you a nag sometimes, but honestly you were the voice of reason in our group.”

“Common sense more like,” she said, though it wasn’t as sharp as her other rebukes.

“Well, any wonder I don’t have that given how we grew up?”

“I don’t know if that’s a nature vs. nurture thing, Collin. You might just be stupid,” she said snidely.

He laughed again. “Oh, ouch. There’s that wit I missed too. Blunt as a club yet sharp as an axe.” He smiled more honestly. “It’s good to talk to you again. I miss that the most to be honest.”

“…Yeah…it’s better than ignoring you if we can get along…”

“I missed being all together,” he went on. “Like I said, you were the voice of reason in our group. Got us to stop bitching at each other and do our work. After you left, it didn’t take long for us to all go our separate ways…I knew it’d happen eventually though. Just thought we’d be going the same way, so to speak.”

“Collin,” she warned.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, holding up his hands. “I’m still finding closure too, give me a bit.”

“Please,” she sighed. “You flirted with women even before we broke up.”

“That was all harmless fun! I never cheated on you,” he said adamantly.

“Just saying, I doubt you’ve been alone all this time.”

“…True,” he admitted. “But then…none of them were you.”

Sloane stared a moment. She wasn’t stupid—that should be a romantic line. It was lines like that, that got her to agree to date him before. Collin could be a charming bastard and he knew it, and even when she was angry, he would pull this and she’d fall for it because really, who else was there for her? But she felt nothing. Nothing at all. Even after she left, she worried about still wanting him, but it only took a few months to really stop focusing on those feelings. _Hm…I guess I was over him. Always thought I’d be more bitter if it came to this, or worried I’d be weak, but I just…feel nothing._

“…Collin-” She was saved from having to respond by the waitress returning with two checks. Sloane took care of her and Trubel’s meal and Collin his own as they had agreed.

“I could’ve gotten it all,” he said. “I mean, what are you doing for money?”

“…We make do,” she said. “Savings, odd jobs and the like. What I can get from random hunts.” She was straight up lying now, but she couldn’t admit she had a steady job as a detective. That would be like waving a red flag in front of bull.

“If you need help, just let me know,” he said, and sounded honestly wanting to help.

“I’ll keep that in mind…” She stood up. “Why don’t we see how Trubel’s doing at this arcade?”

Collin frowned a second but then sighed and got up. “She’s not a child, you know.”

She was used to telling Nick that, but it sounded more irresponsible coming from Collin. But she wasn’t going to say so. “I know, but it doesn’t hurt to check.”

They headed out and over to the arcade, where Trubel was playing a racing game. “C’mon…no no no no no!” she groaned as she skidded out. “Man, I was in second!”

“Not first?”

She jumped and looked over to see Sloane. “Oh…hey…”

“Hey…having fun?”

“…Yes?”

Sloane sighed but smiled. “That’s good…”

Trubel relaxed, glad she wasn’t angry. “Is it time to go? I’ve, uh…got couple of tokens left?”

“I’m sure Sloane wants to get on the road, give’em to—”

“These are connected?” Sloane asked, looking at the two steering wheels.

“Yeah?”

Sloane sat down and held out her hand. “Race you.”

Collin stared, surprised. But Trubel smiled and set a token in her hand. “I’ve got about four more.”

Sloane looked up. “Something you want to play, Collin?”

“…I can take a crack at the pinball?” he asked, confused. Trubel handed him a token too and they settled in to play. Sloane grinned as the game started and Collin was at a loss for a moment before he went to go play.

\----------------

Nick and Hank arrived at the crime scene after the victims were taken to the hospital. The house itself was very nice and upper scale, trying to recreate a colonial mansion on a slightly smaller scale. Officer Hale was there and nodded as they came up. “Hey, Hale,” Hank nodded. “What do we have?”

“Nothing good. Robbers broke into the very nice house of Mr. and Mrs. Dobson while they were supposed to be gone for the night at a friend’s party. They knew how to disarm he alarm. But the couple came home suddenly for some reason and surprised them. The robbers beat and tied them up. The maid found them this morning and Mr. Dobson is dead while Mrs. Dobson is not doing well due to a being struck hard in the head with something.”

“Damn,” Nick swore. “We got a cause of death?”

“That’s the odd part…Mr. Dobson was definitely hurt much worse, but aside from some bruises we’re not sure what got her husband. Come on,” he motioned for them to follow and they did, finding the body in the closet. The man was dead but looked oddly swollen. He was dressed in a nice suit and his hair looked like he might’ve been sweating before he died with how it was plastered to his forehead. He had a bit of post-mortem bruising but nothing a fistfight wouldn’t get him.

“Huh…not sure what killed him?”

“Not yet,” Hale nodded. “The ME thinks it’s some kind of reaction, but she needs to more fully examine him first. That’s why we’re trying to get him out of here soon.”

“Well, let us look a bit first,” Hank said with a good-natured smile.

“Oh, right, of course—I didn’t mean…” he started.

“It’s fine,” Nick said, pulling on the gloves and kneeling down. They looked over the body, the closet—including a large bloody pool nearby where Mrs. Dobson was found and the splatter over the clothes and wall—and everywhere else they could. They found shoe prints on the hardwood they made sure would be taken, but not much else at that time. Plenty seemed to be missing as a jewelry box in the bedroom was practically empty. What was left seemed expensive though Nick had to guess, looking at an earring that was left behind. White gold and a diamond. “Hale? Can you check and see if they have insurance on their jewelry?”

“Why?”

Nick blinked and reminded himself Hale was rather new. “If they do, then the company will have information on the pieces. We can use that to try and track them down if they’re pawned or anything like that.”

“Oh! Got it.”

“Find out anything else they have insured too.”

“Right…um…how would that all work?”

“…Well, we’ll see if we can find any documents to run, but if not, you’ll have to call around to insurance companies to see if they have a policy for them.”

“Right! I’ll start figuring that part out.” He quickly turned to head down to his computer.

Nick watched him go and then looked at Hank who just smiled. “Hey, we were rookies once too.” Nick laughed and they went back to examining the scene.

In the bathroom, there was a lot strewn about but Nick saw a black case on the vanity and picked it up. Opening it, he saw two EpiPen’s in the case, filling both slots. Turning one, he saw “Franklin Dobson” and a recent refill date on the prescription. “Huh…”

“Found something?”

He held it up to face Hank. “Mr. Dobson used Epipens…”

“Surprised they didn’t take those with how much they cost,”

“Yeah…Do we know why they came home early?”

“Not yet, why?”

“Just wondering why he’d leave these at home.”

“Ohhh…You know, they said they thought some kind of reaction was the cause of death.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Nick nodded. “Let’s contact the people from the party.”

\---------------

Sloane sighed as they pulled into the motel late in the afternoon. They were just outside of Boise, heading towards the mountains, but that was enough for today. They weren’t toing to be raiding the Wendigos tonight—that would be suicide given they had better night vision and would be well rested. For now, meeting at the motel to eat dinner and strategize would be best.

Collin also had a printout of the motel on the directions and it was easy enough to find. Simple and cheap, both Sloane and Trubel had stayed in worse but it left a lot to be desired compared to home. Sloane parked up front—a place like this you might end up with your car ransacked if you parked in the shadows. Sloane got out and went to the front desk.

“Hey, Sloane!” Collin called, smiling as he pulled up. “So, about the room situation—”

“I’m going to get a room for Trubel and me,” she said.

“…Not even going to talk about it?”

“Nope. Because unless something has changed, Melinda is getting a room on her own and I’m not dealing with Antonio’s snoring.”

“Oh, so you remember,” a feminine voice said with a laugh. Sloane looked up and smiled as a black woman walked up. Unlike the photo from years ago where she’d long microbraids, she now kept her hair longer and natural with a head band to keep it back from her face.

“Mel,” she smiled. “Nice hair.”

She laughed. “You too.” She reached up and flicked a lock of Sloane’s hair. “Platinum blonde suits you, Skunky.”

“Skunky?” Trubel asked and Sloane blushed and batted at Melinda’s hand.

“Quit it with that…Trubel, this is Melinda Romaneck. Melinda, this is Theresa Rubel, but we call her Trubel.”

“Nice,” she smiled. “Antonio flew in earlier and is resting after being in Spain for a while. Snoring up a storm like you said.”

“Surprise, surprise,” she said sarcastically. “What about Jacob?”

“In with him, listening to whatever hipster underground techno album he got recently on full volume to drown out the sawing logs.”

Sloane huffed a laugh. “Well, somethings never change…Let me get Trubel and me settled and we can talk more over dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan, we’re all meeting in 208. Good to see you again though, girl…we missed you.”

Sloane smiled a bit and nodded before going to the front desk to get the rooms worked out. Once they had their key cards they went to unload and put things away in the room which had two twin beds waiting. Trubel lifted the sheets and mattress protector. “No bed bugs…”

“Collin does have standards,” Sloane sighed. “He’d have scoped this place out already, made sure the staff weren’t going to go through our things and the like but also not ask a lot of questions.”

“That’s good…Melinda seems cool.”

“She is,” Sloane smiled. “I remember wanting to be a lot like her, she seemed so…put together even though she’s only a year older than me. Usually just ignored the guys doing stupid shit while I got angry, so I wished I was more refined.”

Trubel nodded, looking at Sloane as she unpacked a few things. “Yeah, I get that…”

They finished getting things put away and she looked at her phone. “Probably time to head up. We’ll order something in I think.”

“Sounds good. Oh, didn’t Nick want you contact him?”

“Ah, right,” she sighed.

\------------------------

Mr. Dobson’s death was explained by the end of the day—Anaphylactic shock. Apparently, he had a severe allergy to shellfish and no one at the party thought to mention one of the finger foods being passed around was a shrimp puff pastry. He had forgotten his new EpiPen and they’d rushed home only to be beaten and tied up by robbers. His injuries weren’t life threatening, but without treatment he died when his airway closed. The ME confirmed this after an autopsy.

Then Mrs. Dobson died. They’d hit her hard enough to cause internal bleeding in her head and abdomen and they couldn’t save her at the hospital when the damage shut down her organs.

Nick sighed when they got the news and rubbed over his face. “Dammit…”

“Well, definitely murder, manslaughter at the least...” Hank said, disappointed as well. It was always hard when you had a victim live at the scene who didn’t make it. “Their daughter managed to make it from Washington state in time at least…”

“Should we ask to talk to her?”

“Let’s call tomorrow, I think she’s had to deal with enough…”

Nick nodded and sighed. “Well, as far as suspects so far who knew they should be gone, there’s the maid, the daughter, the two sons, and anyone who was at that party that might’ve told anyone else that have worst intentions.”

“Or dumb luck,” Hank pointed out.

“No, the alarm didn’t go off, remember? So, someone who knows the code must’ve been involved.”

“Well, I’d think that’d rule out most of the party guests…” Hank nodded. “The maid seemed pretty shaken up.”

“She only had to tell someone the code, she might not have been expecting her employers to end up dead.”

“Also true…Man, are we too suspicious?” he asked, remembering the earlier joke about being paranoid.

“Only if we’re wrong,” Nick laughed. He looked at his phone and sighed. “Sloane should be where she was heading by now…”

“I’m sure she’ll call soon,” Hank said. “Heck, she’s probably having an easier time than we are, getting to catch up with old friends.”

“…Are they still old friends after all this time?” Nick wondered. “I mean…Some old friends contacted me through Facebook and stuff and honestly, when I saw how much some of them changed for the _worst_ , I didn’t want to catch up. Maybe that’s why I’m not on there much…”

“Eh, I agree, but who knows how much they’ve changed. Sloane did, after all.”

“She’s pretty convinced they didn’t…gonna be like old times.”

“Man, you gotta stop worrying she’s going to change back,” Hank sighed. “I get it, but you need to have a little faith in her.”

“I do! I just…don’t trust them. If their as bad as she says, and she thinks they’ll hurt her or us if they find out, I don’t like her and Trubel being alone with them…Plus, I guess…I wish things were different and I could’ve gone too. I’m curious what a big group hunt with a bunch of Grimms is like,” he admitted.

“My guess is: bloody.”

“Ha, yeah…hopefully it’s not their blood.” His phone chirped and he picked it up and smiled. “Well, speak of the devil. She says she’s in Boise, about to meet up with the others and plan out the hunt for tomorrow.”

“See, worrying for nothing.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. He still felt uneasy—maybe he just wanted her to get home as soon as she could. He was back in power so to speak, but he’d come to appreciate Sloane being there for him. He was used to it being her, Hank and him—the three musketeers as everyone on the force seemed to call them. Some called them the Three Stooges, but that was mostly the men Sloane had embarrassed. Being just him and Hank again…felt wrong.

\------------------

Rosalee looked at her phone when it beeped and sighed. They were trying to relax by reading, a baking show on in the background mostly for noise. It was hard to relax when it felt like eyes were always on them, and two of their key players so to speak were away. So, Sloane’s text was a small relief. “Sloane’s in Boise. They’re going to go over a strategy and try to get the hunt done tomorrow.”

“Working fast,” Monroe said. “Guess she really doesn’t want to catch up much.”

“I think she wants to get home…”

“Yeah…what are we going to do when she does though?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, these other Grimms know she’s been here a while…That’s gonna cause some problems if they don’t like her being friends with us. I mean, if they come at the wrong time, it’s going to come out…”

She frowned and looked down at her magazine. “I…don’t know. But I don’t want her to have to leave…I know she’d do that if she thought it would protect us.”

“Yeah,” Monroe nodded. He smiled a bit. “It’s weird, both our best friends are Grimms. But it’s kind of awesome too.”

“Yeah,” she smiled. They both froze when headlights passed by the window, relaxing only slightly when it passed. “…I hate living like this. Waiting for the shoe to drop.”

“I know,” he agreed, reaching over to take her hand. “We’ll get through it though. Either they’ll lose interest, or we can figure out who it is and make them stop. People like this work in secret because they know nowadays if they showed their real face, they’d be the ones most people would turn on.”

She smiled and held his hand back but sighed all the same.

\--------------------

Sloane and Trubel headed up stairs to room 208 of the motel. Knocking on the door, a man with close cropped sandy hair and glasses answered and he smiled brightly. “Sloane!”

She smiled and accepted the hug when he opened his arms. “Jacob, good to see you.”

He pulled back and looked her over. “Well, you seem to be doing pretty good.”

“I try. You look pretty good too.”

“Yeah, but Melinda has us beat still.”

“Just because I kick ass doesn’t mean I don’t find time to moisturize!” she said, making them smile as they walked in. Collin was already sitting at a table with a map spread out. Melinda was with them, and so was a man with dark hair and tan skin. He smiled at her. “Sloane. Long time no see.”

“Antonio. I’d like to introduce you both to Theresa Rubel.”

“Hey,” Trubel said, waving slightly.

“Nice to meet you, Theresa,” Antonio said. “Collin let us know that Sloane had a protégé coming with her.”

“Yeah. Uh, call me Trubel though, no one really calls me Theresa…”

“Ah, you’re lucky your nickname works so well,” Jacob sighed.

“We used to call him “Cubby”,” Antonio stage whispered. “Incident at a gay bar, involving a bear who wasn’t a Jaegerbar and us finding out Jacob was gay in a hilarious moment of thinking he needed saving—”

“Shut up,” he said quickly, putting a hand over his mouth with a blush. Antonio was smiling a shit-eating grin under it as he loved that story.

Sloane smiled, remembering similar banter when they were together. It was nostalgic to say the least.

“How did you and Sloane meet?” Jacob asked. He then quickly took his hand back, looking at Antonio in disgust as he had licked over his palm.

“Oh, um…I was drifting from town to town and didn’t really know I was a Grimm. Just thought I was…crazy? But after I got into a fight with a skalengeck, Sloane found me and let me know I wasn’t.” They’d agreed on that abridged version that left out Nick and the others on the drive over.

“Oh, you were an Untrained Eye?” Melinda asked. “That’s rough. I was the same for a couple of years since I was adopted. My adoptive parents thought I was crazy and tried to get me medicated. Did not help.”

“Yeah, I get that. I got put in a couple of psych wards before,” Trubel nodded.

“Yeah. Luckily, I made friends with a librarian who was a _Librarian_. She figured out what I was and got me in contact with a mentor.”

“What about your parents?” Trubel asked.

“Ah, well…Ultimately I think they’d pretty much given up on me to focus on their other kids,” she shrugged. “I’m afraid most of us don’t have great family stories for you.”

Sloane glanced at Collin who sighed and looked down.

“Mine died,” Antonio said, holding up a hand. “Killed in the line of duty. I mean, my father was a soldier who was killed, and my mother died on a hunt.”

“Oh…Um…I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” he shrugged.

“Mine just kicked me out. Grimm life they can handle, gay not so much,” Jacob sighed.

“Assholes,” they all said in unison, then laughed a bit.

“Anyway, we’re going over some of the information we have,” Collin said. “What Amy was able to find out was: There are roughly fifty—”

“Hold up, bud,” Jacob said. “I’m all for strategizing, but we need dinner too.”

Collin sighed but nodded. “Aye, yes that’s true…I think I saw an Indian Restaurant nearby.”

“Nope, not doing that to my stomach,” Jacob said. “I vote burgers.”

“I’m good with that,” Melinda said, Antonio nodding as well.

“What says the newbie?” Collin asked, looking at Trubel.

“Oh, uh…I’m good with anything, really. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, ya’know? Especially when you don’t know when your next meal might come…” she said, feeling a bit awkward.

“Ageless wisdom indeed,” Collin nodded. “I’m fine with burgers then. Sloane, you want to come with me? Give us a bit more time to catch up.”

Sloane hesitated, but Melinda was quick to put an arm around her. “Hey, you’re not the only one who needs to catch up. You can get the food and we’ll come down to help bring it up but give us a little time with her and Trubel.”

Collin frowned but then sighed. “Fine, alright…Write down what you want and I’ll go.”

They quickly wrote down the orders and handed it over along with cash for him and he headed out. “So, what have you been up to?” Antonio asked.

Sloane sighed and gave a vague sort of description of going to Portland and meet Trubel. Walking back, she talked a little about her other adventures—from Japan to Europe and over the Americas. They chimed in about their own adventures there or in similar places and Sloane wondered, idly, why this felt different from eight years ago. At that time, hunting was everything. These were the closest thing she had to friends, but she still kept them at arms’ length most of the time because, well, they could die. Like Amy. It wasn’t something they talked about, and even now she wasn’t sure how to voice it. Attachment as a rule was discouraged. But after living in Portland, getting her world turned upside down…she suddenly craved feeling that with them. Even though that was dangerous because who knows what they would do if they knew what sort of Grimm she was now. It still made her uneasy, but she listened intently.

“…and then, I grabbed on to the guys pants while we’re out the window and just, bring them down to his ankles,” Antonio said. “Full moon out in the daylight, with me hanging under three stories up!”

Sloane snorted and started laughing and they all paused now to look at her. “…What?”

“You…seem different,” Jacob said, tilting his head. “I mean, you didn’t used to really laugh at Antonio’s lame jokes before.”

“Hey…”

“He’s right, you’ve changed a bit,” Melinda said. “You seem…a lot calmer.”

“Well, you all seem more mature too,” she pointed out. “We were still kinda immature before…No matter how grown up we tried to act.”

“True, but…I don’t know, it’s like you’ve made peace with something,” Jacob said. “I’m kinda envious, you seem happy.”

Sloane blushed and hesitated. Trubel looked at her, unsure what to say either, but she finally sighed and shrugged. “I guess…I found out more about my grandmother. And that kind of helped me feel more like…I know myself better too.” It was true enough, though not the whole reason for her being different now.

Melinda smiled. “Well, I’m glad. I worried about you sometimes…”

“Worried about me?” She said, arching her brow.

“Well, I know you were one of the best of us,” she said. “So not about hunting. But more like…That you’d just jump in and die at some point,” she said quietly. “We all did…” Sloane blinked and looked at Jacob and Antonio, who seemed a bit chagrinned Melinda said anything but nodded.

“Yeah, we did worry,” Antonio said. “I mean, you wouldn’t tell us what Collin did to make you so angry, and neither did he, but you could be kind of reckless sometimes. Without back up, we worried you’d just end up dead.”

“Really?” Trubel asked. “I mean, she’s super careful and tells me when I’m being too reckless now…”

Antonio laughed. “Well, that’s a change, aside from telling others what to do!”

“Like I said, I matured,” she muttered.

“I wish you’d kept in touch,” Jacob said suddenly.

Sloane flushed and looked down. “…I had to go through a lot of stuff…but sorry I didn’t.”

They all suddenly reeled back. “Did Sloane Larson just apologize?”

“She did,” Melinda stage whispered. Antonio crossed himself and Sloane rolled her eyes.

“Apparently I am the only one that matured.” They laughed and Trubel smiled a little, feeling like things were going much better than Sloane thought they would.

Their phones went off with a group text from Collin that he was outside. Heading down, he was waiting by his car with several bags of food. “Right, come help me and we’ll sort it out upstairs. Hope you lot didn’t have too much fun without me…”

“Mostly just talking about old missions,” Jacob said, taking some of the bags. “Let’s start talking strategy though. This should be an interesting hunt to say the least.”

\----------------

“It’s my fault!” the maid, Kristen Cortez-Brown, sobbed. Nick and hank glanced at each other, inwardly sighing. That morning they’d pulled her in for further questioning and she had started crying and confessing to everything the moment she sat down. Except, she was confessing to things that had nothing to do with the case—every little indiscretion, from pickpocketing a candy bar when she was 5 to washing her client’s clothes all together instead of separating them like she promised. She was surprisingly fearful of cops despite not really doing anything illegal. It was getting old.

“What’s your fault?” Hank asked patiently.

“Their murder!”

“Why do you say that?”

“I…I told someone the code,” she said, her breath shuddering from crying. “The security code…”

They got them more interested, finally making headway. “Who?”

“Another maid,” she said, wiping at her nose and trying to calm down. “M-my boyfriend got tickets to a game we wanted to go to, so I got her to cover for me since the Dobsons were going to be out all day then. I-I should’ve just told them, but I’ve had clients that have fired me for asking for a day off and I was scared…”

“And you think this other maid did something?”

“She…she was fired recently for stealing,” she nodded. “I didn’t know that at the time—we were only friends through the agency for a short time, but she said she’d do me a solid.”

Hank was nodding, writing it down. “What’s her name?”

“Sabrina Meyers. I thought it was weird she was working with us to be honest—she was one of those white girls with lots of tattoos and such and didn’t really seem the maid sort. She told me she’d gotten in trouble in the past but was trying to get her life straight and this was the only job she could get. I figured we all do what we gotta do…”

“Know her contact info?”

“Um…I have a number for her, but I don’t know if it’s current. She didn’t want to talk after she was fired even though I tried to be nice about it.”

“It’s a start,” Nick said, handing her a pen and his own notebook.

“Do you think then she might’ve done it?” She asked worriedly.

“It’s a possibility, and if she got fired for stealing it’s worth looking into. But even so, it wouldn’t be your fault they chose to do this.”

“But they might not have done it if they didn’t know the code…” she said.

Nick wasn’t sure he could argue that exactly but sighed. “People’s choices are their own.”

She sighed but handed it back to him after looking the number up in her phone. “I thought she was nice and pretty good at her job…I really hoped she’d do good. But I guess it’s not that easy to change…”

Nick felt a little twinge in his gut but nodded a bit. “People can change, but…it’s not easy. I guess even with temptation.”

Hank glanced at him and then nodded to Kristen. “I think that’s all for now. We’ll let you know what we find out.”

“Okay…” she wiped at her eyes again. “I’m really…the Dobsons were nice people. They didn’t deserve this.”

“Most don’t,” Hank agreed.

Nick looked down at his phone and sighed before going through the numbers.

\----------------

Trubel and Sloane returned to their double room late into the evening, after going through several ideas to eradicate the Wendigos as efficiently as possible. A lot of ideas were tossed around, from explosives (too noisy) to poison (too small of a chance it would reach enough of them without a special event). Finally, a direct approach was decided on--seal them inside their commune and go to town, so to speak. Not very imaginative but the best way to make sure they all went down. When they decided to turn in, everyone bid each other goodnight.

"They really aren't so bad..." Trubel said, getting ready to brush her teeth.

"...I never said they were bad at what they do," Sloane said.

"No, but you were kind of implying they're...bad people," she said around a mouth full of foam.

Sloane sighed and rubbed over her eyes. "...Something I've learned is that good and bad are relative. Most wesen see us as the bad guys."

"Well...we don't eat people?"

"Neither do all wesen, even those that traditionally do," Sloane pointed out. "Again, things I've learned. But Collin is...a bit more black and white. And the others tend to follow his lead."

"Why?" she asked, spitting and wiping her mouth.

"I'm not sure, other than he's prone to manipulation and "my way or the highway" type tactics," she sighed. "He had pick up artist skills down too. Could judge the weak points in people's armor. Flattery for some, insults for others to try and make them want his approval. With me he'd act sweet but...I started to see it was an act to get me to do what he wanted and pushed back. Then he tried insults but I'd already caught on to his game and would tell him to knock it off. ...Then came the lies and manipulations, sometimes blackmail."

"...Well...He seems better now?" Trubel said, though uncertain. "I mean, the others seem alright with him?"

"Maybe," she sighed. "Granted, I trust everyone else more. But I still don't want them knowing about Nick and the others."

"...Ever?" Sloane looked at her and Trubel blushed. "I...I mean, I felt lucky just finding you and Nick. But with so many more Grimms, it...I just..."

"...Never say never, I suppose," she sighed. "Except Collin."

"I mean, maybe he's changed though? He's being nice. And he still likes you."

She eyed Trubel a little. "...Some things you don't forgive. And further, I don't think he'd change in that regard. He was raised from when he was small to hate wesen. So were his siblings--he's the only one that actually ever inherited though. Last I remember, most of them went on do do other things with their life but Collin doesn't have anything but the hunt. I don't think he's going to pick up a hobby at this point..." She stood and walked for the bathroom. "I'm acting civil and so is he, I think that's good enough at this point. And if he asks you to try and soften me up for him again, you can tell him where to shove it."

Trubel blushed and ducked her head a bit shamefully. "...He just...seems lonely."

"Lonely?" She asked, pausing in washing her face.

"Yeah...I know the feeling so...I guess I can spot it. And he's been really nice to us so far."

"...Sympathy is a good thing," Sloane said, patting over her face with a towel. "But he uses that to his advantage too. Just...let me trust my gut, but I won't stop you making friends, okay? Just remember to be on your toes around him."

"Okay," she nodded.

"Good. Let's get to bed."

\-------------------------------------

The woods were relatively quiet—they’d been there since the morning and it had stayed fairly quiet all that time. After strategizing last night, they’d gone to bed to get up before dawn and drive the last few dozen miles to the woods near the mountains. Leaving their cars off the road a way back, they were walking through to the coordinates Collin had. Dawn had come and they started climbing the foothills around the mountains. It reminded Sloane of when she hunted the Wolkenkratzer, the wesen that brought her to Portland when it got away. She hoped this wouldn’t end up the same way.

Getting to one ridge after a couple of hours, Collin halted them and then pointed down. They crouched and lined up, looking over the edge into the trees. Focusing their eyes with a touch of Grimm in them, they could make out through the trees a group of ramshackle group of double-wide manufactured homes arranged around each other. There were about eight of them in a huge clearing. Around them were cars of various years and models and condition, ATVs, a barn and pen full of animals, a garden plot and all around that was a fence made of what looked like old railroad ties set up with razor wire.

“Shit, it’s Wendigo Jonestown,” Melinda muttered. “When you said commune, I didn’t immediately think cult.”

“I did,” Jacob said. “Cannibal cult, seemed like something they’d do…”

“The animals are a surprise,” Antonio said. “I see pigs and goats and chickens…I guess they need something when they can’t get humans.”

“Amy didn’t mention them,” Collin said. “They must be new, or they just stocked up. I don’t think it changes the plan much, they should be fine.”

“Well…what are we going to do with them?” Trubel asked. “We can’t just leave them, they’ll die.”

“Best think of that when we’re alive at the end,” Collin said breezily.

“Might be able to use them for a distraction,” Sloane pointed out. “Let them loose, pull their attention somewhere else.”

“Aye, could be good for that,” he grinned. “You and Jacob were always best with animals. Think you can manage?”

“I think so,” she glanced at Jacob who smiled and nodded.

“What about me?” Trubel asked. “You said we can do stuff with animals, but I’ve never really tried…”

“Bit high stakes for a practice run,” Melinda said.

“Yeah, we’ll practice later, I promise,” Sloane said. Trubel frowned and Melinda chuckled.

“Why don’t you help me set up around the perimeter. I promise, it’s a fun part. Jacob got some good stuff.”

Trubel smiled again and nodded.

“We should do this now then, before nightfall,” Antonio reminded them.

“Are we sure they’re all there though?” Sloane asked.

“Even if they aren’t, we’ll have disrupted them enough I think,” Collin said.

“I suppose…Let’s get down there then.”

They moved back from the edge and rose, heading back down to the woods quickly and carefully by hand over the rocking outfacing. Trubel needed a little help, but they were quick to provide it and had been sure to wear drab colors that wouldn’t draw attention if anyone below glanced their way.

Getting to the bottom, they started moving around to the side of the compound when Sloane froze at the buzzing in her pocket. The others—with their hearing up—paused as well and looked at her in shock.

“Did you bring a phone?” Jacob whispered in surprise.

“It’s a habit!” she muttered, quickly fishing it out. She paused when she saw Nick’s number.

“Sloane?” Trubel asked.

“…I will be right back.”

“What?” Collin hissed.

“It’s just a minute, I need to check something!” she hissed back, quickly heading into the trees. The others looked at one another in confusion as this was something she had never done before.

Sloane quickly moved further in where they couldn’t hear easily and accepted the call. “Nick? What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Ah…nothing?” he said, caught off guard.

She paused and then sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Oh…good, I thought something happened to Monroe and Rosalee.”

“No, no, it’s been fairly quiet,” he reassured her. “No wesen case either.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you calling all of a sudden?”

“I wanted to check in, make sure you were okay.”

She felt a twinge in her chest and sighed at how it made her annoyance evaporate. “I’m doing fine, Nick. Really. But I’m in the woods right now, we’re about to go in.”

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry!” he said quickly. “I didn’t realize you were working that fast.”

“It’s fine, I don’t think they’ve heard anything.” She wasn’t sure if she meant the wendigos or her hunting party.

“I’m sorry, I just…I’m just too used to having you around,” he sighed. “You’ve only been gone less than a couple of days and I miss you.”

Sloane felt her heart ratchet up a few beats and swallowed. “Y…You miss me?”

“Yeah. We all do. Feels like something’s missing without you and Trubel here. And knowing what you’re going into scares us all.”

“Ah, right,” she nodded, feeling a bit less stressed and a tiny bit disappointed. “But I mean, we’ll be back soon.”

“I know, I didn’t say it was logical,” he laughed. “Just with everything you said, we can’t help but worry…I know why you said I should stay behind but I wish I was there with you. To make sure you get back okay.”

Her heart hammered a bit harder again. “…I wish you were here too,” she said honestly. “But we’ll be home soon and then things can get back to normal.”

“Right. I better leave you to it then,” he sighed. “Promise you’ll be careful?”

“Careful as I can be.”

“Okay…Bye.”

“Bye.” Sloane hanged up and pressed the phone against her chin. Her heart was still a little fluttery and she really, really wish it would stop. But she couldn’t help but smile a little, thinking about Nick saying he missed her. _And Trubel! He’s just missing his friends, do not get all lovesick!_

“Sloane?”

She didn’t jump, but she straightened and turned to see Collin standing nearby. She’d been too deep in thought. “Hey…sorry, I just needed to handle that real quick.” She put her phone back in her pocket. “Let’s go do this.” She moved to head past him and he caught her arm. She paused and looked at him. He was giving her a searching look, with his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Who was that?”

“What?”

“Who called you, now of all times?”

Sloane glared and pulled her arm from his grasp. “None of your business.”

She gasped when suddenly he crowded her against a tree, looking down at her intensely. “You’ve been not yourself lately…Where’s my Sloane?”

Her gaze hardened back at him. “Your Sloane? Excuse you?”

“You know what I mean,” he growled in frustration. “I know you’ve changed—but there’s something _different_ about you.”

She tried to breathe through being this being as close as this, but it was giving her the feeling of being trapped. She put her hand to his chest and pushed him back firmly with a little of her strength. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Also, where do you get off?”

He suddenly wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “Oh, you know that answer well,” he said seductively, leaning down and kissing her. Sloane’s eyes widened—she’d let down her guard because he’d been civil up till this point, but she realized quickly he hadn’t changed.

He tried to deepen the kiss despite her trying to twist away but she finally broke away and pushed him hard enough he stumbled back. “What the hell?!”

“What? There an issue?” He playfully made as if he was checking his breath and she gaped at him.

“Yes! You…oh god, you always did kiss me to try and distract me,” she remembered. “I hate that!”

“What?” he asked, frowning. “I…but this is how we always built up to a bit of romance.”

“It’s not romantic! I just stopped arguing because it was easier, but I’m not doing that now. And why the hell would you think it was appropriate now?!”

“Sloane, c’mon now, we were doing well! Getting back together and going on a hunt like the old days-”

“Getting back—Were you honestly intending to try and get me back?!” she gaped. “After everything I said to you?”

“Yes! I-We’re meant to be, love!” he said, looking honestly confused.

“Bullshit!” she spat again, her words and onto the ground. “Meant to be—no one is meant to be with anyone!”

“But I know you better than anyone!” he barked.

She started a moment and then gave a derisive laugh. “You “know” me? Fine. Then what’s my favorite movie?” He blinked and she turned, feeling ready to fight him and he tensed and backed up. “What did my grandmother make me when I was sick? What do I like to do when I’m not hunting? What’s my favorite color?”

“What does that matter?” he asked helplessly.

Sloane paused at that. _What does it matter? Huh…wow, he’s right. None of that mattered when we were together. It was all about wesen and hunting and sex and any “romance” was tied to that. Any friendship was tied to that. I…don’t know hardly anything about any of them besides the basics and what came out in a hunt…I don’t know any of that stuff about him. I only know about his family because he trained with them. Was that why it was so easy to leave?_ _Was that why I barely thought of them as friends anymore? And he doesn’t see anything wrong with this?!_ She stared as those pieces fell into place and then couldn’t help it: She started laughing even harder. It was a cruel laugh, but it was directed at herself—at her past self, who if she was standing before her right then she would’ve shaken and asked her what the hell was wrong with her that she didn’t think this was so bad! “Oh my God! Oh, wow, that…that puts a lot in perspective, wow…”

“What?” he snapped, getting impatient.

She pulled herself together and looked at him with the brightest smile she had ever given him really. “Let me spell this out for you: I don’t want you. Whatever we were, it’s over and dead. It’s been over for years and it’s not getting a reboot. Never kiss me again—in fact, never touch me again, because apparently you haven’t learned a damn thing. And if you wanted to be a friend, you’ve messed that up royally, so you better be on your best behavior.”

“Sloane!” he started, moving for her. She moved back and glared.

“Never learned.” She turned and started back for the others. “We’re finishing this and then I’m out of here and you better not contact me ever again.”

He stared in shock, but she just kept moving, trying to calm down. A lot of feelings were conflicting inside her—relief, anger, disappointment, disgust, anxiety. But she wasn’t going to just shut them out. Not again. She could feel without exploding as much as she felt like it.

But maybe her fuse wasn’t lit yet.

As she was walking up to the group, she slowed down when she saw there was someone else there. A woman it looked like, with short ash blonde hair and of a shorter build than them. She was scared for a moment someone from the compound found them, but they were all smiling. Trubel just looked confused and maybe worried. Melinda noticed Sloane and waved at her. “Hey! Look who decided to show up.”

The woman turned, wearing much less make up than before but with the same bright eyes and rosy cheeks that made her look much younger than them even if it was only a couple of years. She looked equally surprised to see the two of them coming from the woods. Sloane blinked and stared. “…Amy?” she breathed.

\--------------

Rosalee finished measuring a few herbs out for satchels—quick brew packets basically for things like sore throats and congestion since flu season was in full swing. She looked up when the door rang and was about to greet a customer when she saw who walked in. “Oh, Josh? Hello.”

“Hey,” he said, a little awkward. “Sorry to bother you, but I was getting a little stir crazy. Juliette mentioned you were here so…”

She smiled and finished sewing up the end of the packet she was on. “No, it’s fine. How are you?”

“Ah…been better,” he sighed. “But Nick and Juliette are great and putting up with me…”

“Hey, don’t put it that way,” she said gently. “We’re happy to help, really, it’s not “putting up with you”. Just…putting you up.”

“Thanks, but I know this isn’t ideal for everyone,” he sighed. “What are you doing anyway?”

“Homemade tea packs. Demand spikes around this time of year.” Josh paused and tried not to glance around the empty shop. Rosalee wasn’t blind though and chuckled wanly. “Well, people aren’t always coming in person.”

“Oh, you do online stuff?”

“Try to.”

“What’s your web address?”

“Uh, it’s on one of those online marketplace things...”

Josh frowned. “Hmm…you don’t want your own?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure where to start with it,” she sighed. “I just did the shops because it was easier.”

“Well…I could help?”

“You could?”

“Yeah. I’m a web designer—I worked for a marketing firm before. It’d be nice to work on something instead of just lazing around scared monsters are going to get me. Uh, no offense…”

“None taken, and that’d be great! I’ve always wanted a professional website…Oh, but I’ll pay of course.”

Josh smiled. “I’d appreciate that. Do you have some pictures or a camera? Seeing the shop can help people feel more connected.”

“I know I have some old pictures, but we can take some new ones. Monroe has a nice camera, I’ll ask if we can borrow it,” she said, picking up her phone. She tried not to frown that there was no message from Sloane but decided to focus and called her husband.

Monroe brought the camera and helped take pictures, insisting on taking a few of the “Beautiful Owner”. Josh meanwhile had sketched out an idea for how the website will work with some paper and colored pencils he picked up—it seemed artistic talent ran in most Grimm families even if the Grimm abilities weren’t there. Rosalee was excited to see it even 2D. Warm amber letters just like her shop door over a dark grey background for the header, an elegant but simple art nouveau frame around it the letters. Down the sides were banners with vined leaves like those outside the shop, concentrating everything in the center with the parchment white boxes for pictures and text. The pictures would also have frames around them.

“Oh, that’s gonna be nice…” Monroe said with a smile. “You might get busier with this.”

“Well, better than letting the ingredients go to waste,” she said, smiling as well. It turned a bit sad and nervous. “My dad would love how this looks…Freddy too. Even if they’d bluster and say that herbs don’t belong on the internet.”

Monroe smiled and hugged her around the shoulders. “If you think this is the best next step, you know I believe in you.”

She nodded, brightening again. “I think so.”

“I’ll start on it then; I did manage to get a new computer and transfer all my licenses for my programs over…”

“We’re sorry you’ve had to do so much to start over,” Monroe said honestly.

“Thanks. I think I’ll head back to Nick’s to start then.”

“Okay, be safe,” Rosalee said, waving. When he was gone, she sighed. “I hope everything works out…”

“Yeah…I know the holiday season gets pretty hectic, but this is ridiculous,” Monroe sighed.

“Granted, I don’t think most people have to worry about we all worry about.”

“True, true. Instead of turkeys, gifts, and feuding relatives we got bigoted wesen, Grimms both good and bad, and…well, at least our relatives aren’t feuding anymore.”

“Thank god for small miracles,” she sighed, and he chuckled and kissed her temple.

\--------------

“Sloane?” she asked. Her eyes flicked to Collin, who was making an expression like someone was about to set his car on fire, then back to her with a smile. “Hey…um, why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“…I’m not. But I’m going to.” She turned and Collin had the good sense to back up.

“Now Sloane—”

“You lying—”

“I can explain—”

“Conniving—”

“I swear, it’s not what it looks like!”

“Piece of shit, rat bastard-” She was advancing on him, ready to kill, when the others rushed over and quickly grabbed her and got between them.

“Whoa, what is going on?” Melinda said.

“Can everyone keep their voices down? Considering we’re not to far from a compound of killer wesen?” Jacob reminded them.

“Then cut out this liar’s tongue!”

“Okay, chill, Shakespeare,” Antonio said.

“He said Amy was dead!” Trubel said quickly. They all paused and looked at Collin now. He had the decency to look ashamed.

“W…why would you tell her that?” Amy asked, looking hurt.

“I panicked! I just…I wasn’t sure Sloane would come. So I embellished it a little bit…”

“Why wouldn’t she come?” Antonio asked in confusion.

“I had a lot on my plate and was trying to figure out how best to do this,” Sloane said. “But telling me that wendigos killed Amy—took her arm off you said—made me think this was a real big emergency and that I needed to avenge her! And stupidly, I thought even you wouldn’t lie about that.”

“Collin,” Amy said, looking at him reproachfully.

“As I said, I panicked,” he said more defensively.

“And as I said, _stop shouting,_ ” Jacob hissed at all of them.

Melinda sighed and eased her grip on Sloane. “I think the hunt is a wash today, we saw someone leave. Let’s find a place to camp somewhere secluded and we’ll try and regroup for the morning.”

The others all agreed, and Sloane huffed and walked in front. Trubel looked at the others, who didn’t go to catch up with her and frowned before moving to her. “Hey…what do you need?”

Sloane slowed just slightly, glancing at her and managing a slight smile. “I need to…not be around Collin. At all.”

“I know he’s messed up—kind of in more ways than one—but I mean…we’re here now, right?”

“Yes, and we’ll see this through, but Collin tried a lot more following me,” she said quietly. “Not to sound too conceited, but I think he still wants me. And that’s a problem, because he might not give up easily.”

“…You think he’d follow us home?” she guessed quietly.

“Yes, and cause a lot more trouble if that’s possible…”

Trubel glanced back and saw Collin was looking between them curiously. Amy was walking close to him and watching them more warily. The others just looked more put out then upset and she wondered why they weren’t more outraged. Maybe they were waiting to say something.

The got more than a mile away from the compound, Melinda spraying mist of something she said would mask their scent along the way from an auto-triggered spray bottle. They found a good clearing and began setting up a camp using the packs they’d brought just in case. Jacob showed Trubel how to set up some simple perimeter alarms with string and bells, to try and make sure they weren’t snuck up on. These would go in an almost spider web like pattern around them at different but low heights and Trubel thought they were simple but neat. Sloane meanwhile put up the tent, and credit to Collin he finally knew not to test her by coming close.

She was just about done when Amy walked over. “Hey…um…”

“…I’m glad your alive,” Sloane said honestly. She seemed surprised by that.

“Oh, uh…me too?” she laughed. “I mean…I’m glad you are too; we haven’t talked for a long time.”

“Yeah…A lot of stuff going on.”

“I get it, really,” she said, holding up a hand. “No judgement.”

“…You still hunt?”

“On and off,” she sighed. She glanced over at Collin, who quickly looked away. “Look…I don’t condone what he did, but you know Collin—he acts before he thinks and that includes running his mouth.”

“I know that very well,” Sloane agreed blandly, glaring over at him.

“But you’re here now. And you were getting along for a bit, right?”

“Trying to…he still doesn’t know when to quit.”

Amy paused a bit at that but took a deep breath. “Again, that’s just him…My point is, you’re not going to leave, right?”

Sloane glanced at Trubel, who was smiling as Antonio showed her a few tricks with his knife. “No…I made a commitment to see this through. But Collin is now eternally on the shit list.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I just wanted to be sure because we really could use your help. You were always one of the strongest of us.”

“Yeah, well…Dierdre wouldn’t raise me any different,” she sighed.

“How is she?”

“No idea, haven’t seen her in a couple of years.”

“Really?”

Sloane looked at her with a wry smile. “It’s Dierdre. You think she’s going to call just to see how I’m doing?”

“I guess that’s true…And your friend?”

“Her names Theresa Rubel. We call her Trubel.”

“Oh, that’s adorable,” Amy said and though she said it brightly, Sloane frowned when she thought she heard a bit of a snide edge to it she didn’t remember Amy having.

“Were you the one that found these Wendigo?”

“I found them with Collin. We’ve been traveling together on and off,” she said causally. “I was helping track everyone down when I got asked to look into another issue in Montana really quick. I guess Collin found you then and didn’t think I’d be back so soon, but it really wasn’t much of an issue. Just a Fuchsbau.”

Sloane felt a slight jolt in her at the word. She knew it couldn’t be Rosalee, but it still had her heart hammering in her chest. “…Fuchsbau don’t seem like much of a target compared to this.”

“Ah, this was a nasty one though. Eating people’s livers,” she stuck her tongue out a little.

“…That’s not a Fuchsbau then, that’s a Kumiho. It’s a Korean relative, similar to the Kitsune from Japan but-” she started, a little relieved. She knew they could still be dangerous, but it wasn’t as if Fuchsbau had that same craving for human organs that Kumiho did.

“Fuchsbau, Kumiho, Kitsu-whatever—who cares? They’re all wesen,” she sighed impatiently. That was new. Amy used to think that sort of information was fascinating. She was eager to please and grow. Now she was acting grown and beyond it all. “And wesen die by Grimm hands.”

“…Right,” she said. Best not to disagree right now. “Just…thought I’d clarify.”

“Yeah, you always thought you were smart,” she muttered.

Sloane flushed and straightened indignantly. “Excuse me?”

“…Sorry,” Amy said, looking repentant. “I just…I’m not a teenager anymore. It’s been almost a decade; you don’t need to lecture me.”

“…Well, alright then. Sorry. Guess I’m just in that mode still.”

“With Trubel?”

“Yeah, she’s still learning.”

“I see…you think she’ll be alright then?”

“Yes, she’s not a push over.”

“Good, because it’s going to be hard enough without us trying to save someone. Oh, I better go help Collin, he’s not the best at setting up tents.”

Sloane frowned a bit but decided not to comment further as she walked off. Taking out her phone, she sighed as she sent a mass text to the others.

_Hit a snag. No one hurt, but we’ll likely have to hunt tomorrow. I’ll call, please wait to call or text me._

She put her phone into her pocket and finished staking the tent down and tossed her and Trubel’s sleeping bag in. She then helped finish setting up the others. They created a circle with their entrances facing inward and only a few feet from one another to create circle of protection. It was only late afternoon by the time they were done, so they ended up sitting and talking again. Trubel was a bit perturbed no one called Collin out on his behavior except Sloane—they just seemed to accept that he lied but what was done was done.

When it started getting dark, they used a group of battery powered lanterns rather than a fire and they ate a dinner of sandwiches they’d picked up earlier.

“Who wants watch?” Jacob asked.

“I’ll take it,” Melinda said.

“I can go after,” Trubel volunteered.

“No, hon, I’ll go all night and get you all up at sunrise.”

“What? But like…won’t you be tired?”

The others chuckled. “Oh,’ she’ll be a bit crabby, but not tired,” Antonio said. “You haven’t trained her there yet?”

“Not yet,” Sloane sighed. “With studying, I wanted her to rest her brain.”

“Trained me where?”

“Grimms can stay up a lot longer than most people as far as needing sleep,” Collin said. “Part of having great stamina—we can stay up probably three nights before it really starts to effect us.”

“That being said, getting regular sleep when you can is still better for you,” Jacob said quickly. “Like, staying up three nights, getting one night of sleep, then staying up another three nights is not a good idea. You should sleep at least a full day and try to hold off on that if you don’t want to like…see sound or something.”

“Or just be super crabby,” Antonio added.

“Good to know,” Trubel said, nodding a bit.

“Yep. So, I’ll be fine, you all go to sleep,” Melinda said again.

They thanked her and started getting ready for bed. Sloane decided to go to the bathroom at the edge of the tree line first. As she turned to head back though, Collin was there, and she glared. “Not talking to you, but if I was, I’d say don’t follow me when I go to take a piss you creep. But again, not talking to you.”

“Please?” he said, giving her puppy dog eyes. Sloane glared and moved to go past him, but he quickly got in front of her. “I just want to apologize! I didn’t want this to be you mad at me again!”

“You should’ve thought about that when you lied!”

“Aye, yes, you’re right,” he said quickly. “I’m stupid, I know! But I just…seeing you, I just wanted you to come with us so badly! I wanted you to come with me.”

“Collin,” She warned.

“I love you!” he said, taking her by the shoulders. “I love you; I’ve always loved you. That’s why I wanted to spend my life and have a family with you and I’m sorry I did this shite, but I want it still and I’ll do anything to make this all up to you!”

Sloane sighed, finding her anger fizzling into just being plain tired. She pulled his hands off her shoulders and pushed them back to him. “Collin…I don’t feel the same. And I don’t think you actually feel that way.”

“Yes, I do—”

“No, you love whoever I was from when I was 20 backwards,” she said. “I don’t even love that person anymore. They were just this angry teenager who had no personality or life outside of hunting! I was a blank canvas that just followed along with Dierdre and then you and gave you what you wanted because I was scared of being completely alone. And that’s what you liked. Until I was more scared to be with you.”

He stared at her and tried to smile through the confusion and a bit of heartbreak. “I…what? Did you see a bloody therapist or something?”

“No, I just finally started asking myself “why?” a lot. Like why I put up with your bullshit when it drove me crazy, why I never called you out except when I knew you’d just laugh it off…Why I let you touch me when I didn’t want to be touched.” She let go of his hands and backed up when he reached for her again. “Collin, I’m not some doll you get to play house with. What you did hurt me on a lot of levels—you broke my trust, you tried to use me, you gaslighted me constantly, you tried to force me into things I wasn’t ready and may never be ready for. And you thought it was okay. I’m not going to forget that. So just…stop. Move on. I already did.”

She moved around him and this time he didn’t follow.

\----------------------

Everyone who got the text tried not to worry.

Hank sighed and resisted texting back for details. Glancing at Nick, he could tell he was even more tempted but put the phone down with a deep sigh.

Rosalee very nearly texted something but deleted it when she realized that was counterproductive.

Monroe was confident she would be okay. He just wished she could’ve explained a bit more.

Juliette was working and didn’t check till an hour later. She sighed but hoped it would all work out.

\-------------

In the morning, Melinda woke them all up and they quickly and quietly took down their camp. Jacob wound up the bells and made barely a sound doing it after years of practice. The blankets and tents went back to their packs and they got them all ready to head out again. A few hundred feet from the compound they stashed the packs and started preparing. No one was stirring, but Amy was sure that all the cars they’d observed were there so no one should be missing. There were no children either, she said, these were all adults and it was a new set up. Sloane was grateful for that. From what she could tell, this compound was made up of Wendigos from all over Idaho and other surrounding states that decided to come together after leaving their families or needing new territory.

To try and keep them from getting too far away, Jacob brought out large rolls of thin wire he’d gotten from the Kansas Library on his way in. Using thick gloves to protect their fingers, they all started working to wind the wire around the trees at foot, sternum, and neck/head height tight enough that running into it would cause a lot of cuts and lacerations. Maybe more giving how fast and hard Wendigos could run.

“This is pretty sick…I mean, in a good way,” Trubel said.

“Thanks,” Jacob whispered back. “I’m not the strongest Grimm, so I figure how to use my brain. This wire is great because it’s so strong but hard to see. I considered mines or explosives, but those are hard to travel with.”

“…Yeah, I imagine they would be,” she nodded slowly, glancing at Sloane who didn’t seem shocked at all. At the same time, she remembered Petrevski and his traps. _If he’d been born a Grimm, he and Jacob would get along probably_ …It was a slightly bitter thought, so she pushed it away.

“Sloane?” She looked up as Antonio came over. “I know you aren’t fond of them, but here.” He held out a gun and she stared at it a moment before reaching up to take it. “It’s for emergencies. I know we’re going to try and be quiet, but if hell breaks loose, a bullet works as good as a blade on them. And I want us all getting out of this for real.”

“…Right,” she sighed. She made sure the safety was on and secured it in the gun part of her holster under her jacket she usually left empty. “Trubel going to get one?”

“She can use it?”

“Yeah, she can. Though honestly, I’d say the machete is more her best weapon.”

“Nice,” he smiled. “You’ll look out for her?”

“As much as I can. She’s also out to prove herself a bit I know so I don’t want to hold her back…”

“Well, I’m hoping we all come out in one piece. And that we can maybe get along later?” he asked hopefully.

“You and I are fine. Collin is the one that needs to stay away from me. And not send you to do his dirty work as usual.”

Antonio sighed and held up his hands. “Just thought I would try…”

She hummed and went back to securing the wire.

Once the wire was in place—which was very quickly thanks to all of them working together—the sun was still barely up. Since the wendigos were still asleep, they decided to use that to their advantage and forgo the distraction plan.

“Over the fence?” Melinda asked.

Sloane nodded and readied herself, then ran and leapt over the fence. She couldn’t normally jump like this in the city with so many witnesses around but using her leg strength she soured over the high timbers of the wooden fence and rolled to a stop softly and quietly like a high jumper. The others followed suit, including Trubel but Sloane quickly caught her before she landed hard.

“Told you to practice,” she whispered.

“Didn’t think I’d need it so soon…” she whispered back.

Melinda put a finger to her lips, and they quieted. Taking out their weapons, all bladed swords and knives, they set to work. Each one of them had a gun as well, but the goal was to get as many as they could without alerting the others first.

The houses were set up in a circle and they fanned out, Trubel going with her to one house. The inside had one living room and doors on one end to the bedrooms, a kitchen on the other. Trubel made the mistake of glancing towards the kitchen and froze for a moment. It was covered in blood, old and new, and there was a body on the table. A human body, but it looked like a turkey after Thanksgiving with how it was picked over. It hadn’t been last night, the stench was too horrible, but knowing that’s what they’d been doing while they watched the outside, while they pretended to be this hippie commune…She felt bile in her throat and almost had to retch when a hand went over her eyes. “If you aren’t ready for that, look away. But we’re going to see a lot of blood in a moment,” Sloane whispered into her ear.

Trubel breathed deeply and turned when Sloane nudged her. She nodded, didn’t’ close her eyes again as they moved to the doors. Opening one door, they saw three people in one, four in the other, bunked like a summer camp. Sloane motioned at the door with three with a questioning look at her while look at the other door and pointing to herself. Trubel took a breath and nodded before they both snuck into either room.

They tried to make it as quick, quiet and painless as possible, going through the throat with a quick stroke that prevented screaming in more than a gurgling rasp. Them being asleep helped, and soon they were up by seven with minimal fighting back.

They got out and snuck towards the second house, nodding to a bloodied Jacob and Amy as they moved quietly to another as well. It was the same layout, and bloody kitchen décor, in the next. Four to each bedroom this time. They split up again and were both on their last one when a scream rang out—loud, piercing and inhuman. The eyes of the woman Sloane was about to kill snapped open and they were a deep yellow. She looked at Sloane with wide eyes and then woged, her skin growing a pallid grey, her teeth becoming needle sharp, her ears growing pointed and her hair turning scraggly and white. “Grimm!” She screamed, moving her clawed hands for her. Sloane ducked out of the way and brought the knife up into the underside of her chin. She choked, twitched and then her eyes rolled back and she dewoged as Sloane had gone right through her hard palate into her brain with that move. Pulling her knife out, she rushed when she heard the other door breaking to see Trubel wrestling with a wendigo man. She managed to get out from under him, grab a chair and smash it into his face before jumping on him and bringing the knife into his neck. He dewoged and went face first onto the floor.

“You okay?” Sloane asked.

“Yeah, but that didn’t sound good.”

She nodded and they both rushed out to see pandemonium. They had maybe got half the wendigos in their sleep, but the other half were now trying to hunt them down. Sloane and Trubel rushed out and started getting all the ones they could, keeping them from getting the other Grimms when they couldn’t protect their backs. “What happened?” Sloane asked.

“One of them was in the living room!” Melinda shouted. “She woke up when we got inside and alerted the others!” She yelled when one slashed at her arm, giving her some hard scratches, but she brought her gun up and hit it in the head. “I know you’re not a fan, but you might need to use a gun here!”

Sloane frowned and instead pulled the short sword from her side and rushed in. And as awful as she knew it was on a level to enjoy it, her heart was beating as she almost danced in her movements around him. Trubel almost stopped short to admire how she moved, dodging the wendigos movements and then bringing her blade around into their necks, shoulders, abdomens.

Soon, there were no more coming for them. It felt soon, but they’d been fighting for a long time according to the sun and Sloane sighed as she wiped a bit of blood from her face.

“I stand corrected,” Melinda said, smiling a little. “I forgot you can’t be beat when it comes to a sword like that.”

She smiled a little despite herself. “Viking short sword. Every girl’s best friend.”

They laughed a little and Trubel smiled.

“Everyone alive?” Collin asked, looking around.

“Barely,” Jacob sighed, limping slightly. “One of them actually tried to take a chunk out of my leg! I mean, I know we fight Wendigos pretty regularly, but these guys were particularly rough.”

“They’d been gorging themselves from the look of it,” Antonio said. “at least one dead body in every house, maybe a few days old…”

“Let’s look around, make sure that’s all of them,” Collin said. “We also need to gather the bodies, take care of them.” He was pointedly not looking near Sloane and she was fine with that. He’d ignored her all morning which was an improvement.

“I’ll go see if anyone tried to run and hit the wires,” Jacob said.

“You’re legs not doing you any favors, I’ll go,” Antonio said.

“I’ll go too, it’ll be faster,” Melinda said. “Why don’t you sit down, Cubby?”

“I’ll get you for that later,” he said, hobbling over and sitting on a porch to look at his wound. Sloane walked over and kneeled down, surprising him. “Sloane?”

“Let me take a look,” she said, sitting and grabbing his leg and undoing his boot in her lap. She rolled up his pants leg and looked at the bit wound. “Well, good news, you keep the leg.”

“What’s the bad?” he asked lightly, grimacing at the dozen or so puncture marks in two half-moons.

“My salve is in my pack, so you’ll have to bear with it a little while longer.”

“I can get it,” Amy said, looking at a deep scratch on her arm. “We all could use some, but I haven’t made any for a while…”

Sloane nodded at her and then paused, seeing something move in a window. “…We’ll check some of the houses then.” She set Jacob’s leg back down.

“I’ll check some too.” Collin’s tone was curt, and Sloane resisted rolling her eyes but motioned for Trubel to follow her into the house she noted before.

“Something wrong?” Trubel asked.

“I saw something…” Sloane pulled her knife since they were indoors again, and shorter range would work best. She checked the front bedroom where she saw someone move and nudged a few of the bodies, but they were all dead. Focusing her hearing, she imagined the house in her head and listened for any other sounds. She heard a rustling and quietly headed out to the other bedroom, Trubel following with her knife ready. Getting to the bedroom, it was a bit emptier except for two bodies in it she remembered killing before herself. Her eyes went to the closet though and she looked at Trubel. Trubel nodded and got ready for a fight as she walked over and opened the door.

A woman with tan skin and dark hair gave a sharp gasped and pulled a small child closer to her. Sloane froze, her mind racing in seconds— _No children, Amy promised no children, why is there a child here—_ only for it to stop short when they both woged into a couple of Langenohren. She held her even tighter, with more fear in her eyes as she muttered a prayer in Spanish. The child hid her face in her mother’s shoulder, convinced they were about to die it seems.

“Those aren’t Wendigos,” Trubel said, surprised and relaxing.

“…I think they were dinner,” she said.

“The kid?”

“Dessert, probably,” Sloane said in disgust. She quickly put her knife away and the woman looked confused. Sloane knelt down. “My Spanish isn’t great; do you speak English?” she said gently.

The woman blinked and the child peeked at her.

“I…yes,” she said. “Y…You are Grimm?”

“Yes. We came for the wendigos. Um, there all dead. Were you taken by them?”

She gave a shuddering breath and nodded, blinking tears. “W-we were coming through, and we heard they needed help with a farm for money, so we went and…and they brought us here…”

“Okay…don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here.”

“I, but…you won’t kill us?”

“Not that kind of Grimm. These guys were hurting a lot of people. I assume you don’t?” Sloane said quietly. They shook their heads quickly and Sloane nodded.

“I’ll go tell the others,” Trubel said. Sloane quick as flash straightened and grabbed her arm.

“No, don’t,” she said. “ _We’re_ not those kinds of Grimm. They are. They will kill them.”

“What?” she asked, confused. “I—Sloane, I know you have your differences with them, but these are a couple of rabbits! Not man-eating monsters.”

“They don’t make that distinction, Trubel. A wesen is a wesen, and I’m going to be outed and out voted if we tell them and they’ll be dead.”

“Her kid’s like 12!”

“Collin doesn’t care,” she said. “I know, trust me.”

Trubel frowned more and then jerked her arm from her grasp. “Sloane, they aren’t like that.”

“You’ve known them what, a day? Traveled with hem for years!”

“A long time ago! Look, I’m going to tell them, we’ll get them out of there, it’ll be fine.” She turned and headed off and Sloane growled under her breath and glanced at the mother and daughter who were worriedly looking at her.

Trubel headed out and over to where the others had gathered. “Hey, found a couple in the wires!” Antonio said, gesturing to bodies with nasty cuts. “Just tending wounds.”

“Did you find something?” Collin asked, eyeing the house.

“Yeah. We found a, um…I think Langenohren mother and daughter, hiding in a closet.

“Langenohren?” Melinda asked. “What are they doing there?”

“Sloane thinks they were taken as dinner.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Amy said, nodding. “You two take care of them?”

Trubel paused. “Uh…well, I mean, they’re just victims here?”

“Doesn’t matter, no witnesses,” Collin said.

“What? But—”

They all jumped when a gunshot rang out and there was a scared, high pitch scream—not like the one before. This one was full of anguish. Then there was another shot and it was quiet. “Sloane?!” Trubel yelled.

She came out of the house, looking sad and defeated and holding the gun in her hand. Everyone was surprised and Collin looked at her with an assessing gaze. “…What happened?”

“Langenohren mom and kid,” she said. “We were considering letting them go, but they tried to attack me. Caught me by surprise with their speed so I had to shoot them.”

Trubel stared in shock and the others looked at one another before back at Sloane. “You got them both?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have a choice, the kid got in my shot. I got the mother as quickly as I could.”

“Sloane! Why?” Trubel asked, going up to her.

“I told you, they attacked me!” she said. “I’m sorry, alright, I didn’t want to have to kill a child! But I didn’t have a choice! I just…put the blanket over them and got out.”

“…Didn’t think you liked guns anymore,” Collin said.

“It’s been 8 years, I worked through it,” she sighed, but unloaded it and held it out to him. “But I’m not feeling the love now. Look, can we just…finish up here? I don’t want to hang around all day.”

“Okay,” Melinda nodded, also looking at her oddly.

“Sloane—” Trubel started again, obviously angry and upset. Collin set a hand on her shoulder.

“She did the right thing, lass.”

She looked at him in shock. “Sh…she killed a kid! And her mother!”

“They were wesen. You gotta get used to that. You leave the wee ones alive, they just grow up wanting to get revenge and causing a mess on their own. Event he most harmless looking ones can be pains in the arse. Better just to nip it in the bud.”

Trubel backed away in disgust and looked at the others. None of them would look at her or argue. Sloane didn’t say anything either, just worked to start getting the bodies ready. Trubel moved off away from them, trying to come to grips with what happened. This wasn’t how she saw the hunt going. Heck, going to confront Shaw, the Klaustrike who wanted to hurt Nick, she’d done her best to just seem like she was ready to kill and give him a cut on the neck as a warning. He hadn’t done anything but talk big and knew Nick and Sloane would disapprove of more. So why did she do this? She risked glancing in the window and saw the two bodies in there from before, as well as bloody lumps under the blanket like she said. She saw Melinda was just getting around to cutting the wires down as well and recoiling them. No one got out of there.

Sloane disappeared while the bodies were being piled into the barn. Haphazard at best, blatantly uncaring at worst. Trubel didn’t like Wendigos by any means but it did strike her as a bit sad to leave them like this. Then Sloane reappeared, carrying a body in a sheet. She’d gone to retrieve the Langen Ohren and carried them herself. Trubel didn’t watch as she carried a smaller bundle in the bed sheet and added it to the pile soon afterwards. Antonio set a hand on her shoulder and she glanced at him but just sighed. “So, how do we do this? Fire might be dangerous out here and we don’t have a back how to dig a mass grave.”

“As remote as this is, we can probably leave it for a while,” Amy said. “I can let a clean up crew know where it is, and they can come later for it.”

“Clean up crew?” Trubel asked.

“The Libraries know some professionals for these sorts of cases,” Amy said. “The ones where there are going to be literal piles of bodies.”

“…Fun…”

“What should we do with the farm animals?” Jacob asked.

“There’s just a few of them left. We could turn them loose,” Antonio said.

“Eh, I saw farm not too far. They didn’t do anything wrong; I’ll just drop them off there in that travel trailer and let the farmer sort it out.”

“Fine, if you want to do the extra work.”

“…Trubel, want to help?” She looked up, glancing at Sloane again before nodding and going to help load them up.

“…Look…Sloane would not have done that if she didn’t think it was necessary. She’s the first out of us to say, “no killing kids”. It was a big thing between her and Collin, he’s a lot more “everyone is fair game.””

“…What about you?”

“…I do what I gotta do,” he sighed. “This life isn’t for a pacifist; I can tell you that much. But you can’t exactly get out of it either.”

“Not unless you die,” she said.

“Yeah, there’s that. But hey, just…I know Sloane cares a lot about you and what you think.”

“…Are all Grimms “do or die”?”

He hesitated but then nodded. “Most we know. Some might be a bit less so, but they get talked about a lot. Not in a friendly way. No matter how good they are, being friends or more with wesen is…”

“Bad,” she guessed.

He nodded, getting the last of the animals loaded. “I’m going to use one of their trucks to get this out of here while I can. You want to come?”

Trubel was about to say yes when Sloane put a hand on her shoulder. “I think we both need to clean up,” she sighed.

“You want anything from here?” Antonio asked. “We’ll probably hawk the cars and a few other things for cash.”

“They’re all yours, I’m doing fine, and I don’t want a reminder,” she said. She grabbed their packs, handing one to Trubel. “We’ll see you guys back at the hotel and I’ll treat tonight.”

“Oh, you must be good for cash then,” Melinda said. “Go on.”

Sloane nodded and grabbed Trubel’s hand to lead her out. Trubel frowned, glancing back towards the barn. “…You said never kill children.”

“I say a lot of things,” Sloane said, still marching forward.

Trubel growled and jerked her hand out of her grasp. “You told me not to kill every wesen I met! That some could be reasoned with, like Rosalee and Monroe! But then you go and do that! You could’ve taken them in a fight! And they…they just…”

“I warned you,” Sloane sighed.

“Yeah, well, what makes you any different?! Besides being a hypocrite!?”

“…Call me what you like, but I want to get out of here. Now. And unless you want to give them a piece of your mind and see what happens, you’ll follow.” She turned and continued and Trubel glared at her back. But she ended up following and was puzzled when she veered off. Frowning, she followed and was surprised to see Sloane’s car by the dirt road the Wendigos used.

“What…when did that get here?”

“I brought it earlier, when I could get away. Ran full tilt back to get it and bring it here.”

“…Why?”

“To get out of here as quickly as possible. C’mon, inside.” She opened the door and climbed in and Trubel followed. Sloane started the car and quickly U-turned back onto the road to head up it.

“…So, am I just supposed to never talk about it again? Not tell Nick and the others?” Sloane didn’t answer and she looked to see her staring at the rearview mirror. “Sloane? Hey! I’m talking to you!”

“Hm? Sorry, what?”

Trubel glared more. “Am I not supposed to tell the others you killed innocent people when we get back to Portland?! Do I just keep that a secret? Because…because I don’t want to keep secrets from Nick and Juliette, or anyone else…”

“You don’t have to,” she said, still distracted.

“So, you want me to tell them?” she gaped. “I…do you not care? And why are you looking in the mirror like that!?”

“I want to be sure no one followed,” Sloane said, letting out a breath and speeding up down the road.

“Why?”

“Because then they might see our guests.” She turned and tugged on a dark sheet—the one from her pack—that Trubel hadn’t noticed before. “Coast is clear. Um…Estamos bien,” she said.

The sheet moved and both mother and daughter popped their head out, looking at her in wary relief.

Trubel gaped and then looked at Sloane. “You…how?”

She smiled. “I had them play dead.”

“But…I heard…” she looked at the mother who smiled.

“She told me to scream and shot close to us. Then she hid us, under the sheet, and fired again. She said not to move till she came back for us and she’d get us somewhere safe.”

“She got us out the window!” The girl added.

“Well, a little bit before that part,” Sloane said. “I had to wait for Melinda to take down the wire, then I said I needed a sec. I grabbed the blanket out of my pack and ran full tilt to the cars—made it there in about half an hour. Drove back a ways, then got out and went to get them. Pulled them out of the window, then sent them to wait at the car under the sheet to be safe.”

“We’re very fast too,” the girl said. “Mama thought about leaving, but we don’t know the woods.”

“Hush,” her mother said, blushing.

“But…the bodies…” Trubel said.

“We were never sure of exact numbers. I wrapped up one woman, and then found the smallest I could to pose as them.” Sloane slowed to a stop and looked back at them. “Do you guys have a home around here?”

“Ah, no. We just came to Boise when they offered me work, said I could bring Araceli as well,” she said, hugging her daughter. “I should’ve known it wasn’t what it seemed, but we were desperate…”

“Okay…” she nodded, mind already moving. “I don’t think you should stick around. I’m going to get you bus tickets in town, okay?”

“What? I…but…” she said, looking at her in confusion.

“It’ll be the best way to keep you safe,” she said.

“Thank you, I…you’ve done so much, I…” she started crying a bit and her daughter comforted her.

“It’s not much, really…” Sloane said, uncomfortable with the tears.

They headed into the city and first to a thrift shop to get them some new clothes after noting they were filthy and a little bloody to be going on a trip. Matie, the mother, kept saying it was too much, but Sloane waved her off. After getting them dressed and to the station, she bought them a ticket for the first available bus, luckily leaving that day. Sloane added a little money for food to the deal before they left.

“Thank you…truly, thank you so much,” she said, holding Sloane’s hand.

“You’re welcome,” Sloane said. “When you get there, look for Miriam Garcia and Jean Oberto—tell them Sloane sent you and they’ll do what they can to help.”

She nodded and they went to sit and wait. Heading back out to the car, Sloane sighed long and loud. “Man! I get she’s grateful, but I was scared she was going to start praying to me like a saint…”

“Well…you saved their lives,” Trubel said. “And…I’m sorry, for what I said…”

Sloane looked at her and smiled, reached up to pat her head. “Forgiven. I mean, I couldn’t exactly come out and say it right then and there. You being angry helped make it seem real.”

“Still…I said some stuff…”

“I said it’s fine,” she sighed, ruffling her hair. “But we can’t let the other Grimms know what I did, obviously.”

“Yeah…But we’re seeing them tonight?”

“Have to. Gotta get our stuff and get ready to head out. And try to figure out how to keep them away from Portland…”

Trubel nodded. “Yeah…I mean…if we had to fight them, what would you do?”

“…I don’t know. I’m not like them anymore in a lot of ways, and I’m still like them in others. I don’t know if we’re friends but we’re all Grimm at least…” She sighed and rubbed over her face as they stopped at a red light. “I don’t _want_ to hurt them…”

Trubel frowned and set a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s try not to then. We’ll…figure out something.”

She nodded and they continued back to the hotel. They headed to the room and agreed Trubel would take a shower first. Sloane sighed and took off her jacket to look it over, cleaning it off carefully at the table. There was a knock at the door, and she got up to look through the peephole. “Amy?”

“Hey…can we talk?”

Sloane blinked in confusion but opened the door. “Yeah, sure…what’s up? I figured dinner would be here in a bit.”

“Yeah…I just, um…needed to tell you something,” she said slowly. She looked around and glanced at the bathroom.

“…Trubel’s in the shower.”

“Right. Good, I wanted to talk alone.” She looked up at her, being a bit shorter, with determination. “Stay away from Collin.”

“…Pardon?” Sloane asked, bewildered.

“You left. He’s not yours anymore, so just back off.”

“…You…Oh god, Amy, no, please tell me you don’t want to get with Collin,” she said.

“I _am_ with Collin!” she snarled, startling her. She didn’t remember Amy being prone to anger, she was usually much bubblier.

“Are with him? …For how long?”

“For a couple of years now! We’re going to get married! I was there to pick up the pieces after you left and I’m not giving him back just so you can-can break his heart again!”

She stared and then pinched the bridge of her nose. “Collin, you son of a bitch…” she muttered.

“What?” she snapped.

“Amy, I don’t _want_ Collin!” she snapped back. “I never had any intention of getting back with him!”

“You didn’t?” she asked, confused now. “He said…”

“I’m sure he lied to you too, but no I don’t want him! And honestly, I would advise not being with him in the first place!”

“What? What the hell do you mean?” she asked, getting riled up again.

“Amy, the man is not stable,” she said impatiently. “He is a gun ho, reckless, feckless, narcissistic egomaniac who only cares about himself. He told me you died!”

“He just…was trying to get you to come along, he thought you wouldn’t if he asked because of how you left…” she said.

“Have you ever known me not to kill a wendigo,” she asked honestly. “He told me you were _dead,_ that you died horribly, and this was your Dead Letter. He used me feeling sad against me to make a quicker decision. He does that all the time; he’ll guilt you or push your buttons to make you do what he wants and he’s not above lying to do it.”

“…Shut up.”

“Amy—”

“What the hell do you know!? You left! You left and you didn’t look back! And so, did the others! It was just me and Collin, and he’s been there for me when you weren’t! He loves me!”

“…Amy, I have seen love even if I haven’t had it. It’s not like that,” she said honestly. “I’m sorry I left you all and I hurt you all, but Collin…he came on to _me_. He doesn’t love like that.”

“You’re lying!”

“I’m not! Amy, this is serious—”

“I know what serious is, I’m not a child!” she bit out. “Stop treating me like some wayward lamb! You never took me seriously, always tried to protect me, but I’m as much a Grimm as you! And Collin knows that, he doesn’t talk down to me. I’m not going to listen to some lying slut!”

Sloane gaped and then turned to fully face her, looming over her. “Excuse me?” she said darkly. Grimm aura could work on other Grimms too, if it was strong enough. And Sloane’s was strong.

Amy had the good sense to back up a step but then just turned with a huff. “Just…watch yourself. That’s not the only thing we know about you! So, you and your friends better be prepared.” She opened the door and went out.

Sloane stared after and quickly put the chain up. She breathed, trying to get her anger under control. _What happened to sweet little Amy who puked the first time she saw blood? And carried band aids with cartoon characters because she thought it was funny?_

Sighing, she heard the shower stop and took a few more deep breaths. The sun was going down and if Amy was there, the others likely were too or at least close.

“Hey, shower’s all yours,” Trubel said, coming toweling her hair.

“Thanks…”

She paused and looked at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just…need to clear my head,” she sighed, heading for the bathroom with a change of clothes. She quickly got in and started washing up, getting the worst of the dirt and grime off. As she did, she thought over what Amy said and paused. “…Shit…shit shit shit!” she hissed, quickly rinsing off and climbing out. She left the shower going and dried off enough she could get dressed before going out. “Trubel, we have a problem. They know.”

“What?” She looked up in confusion.

“Amy came to talk, and she alluded they knew something about us. They _know_.”

“How much?” she asked worriedly.

“No idea, but I have a bad feeling. We need to get out of here, now,” she said, starting to pack up.

Trubel didn’t ask more, just started packing her things quickly. Sloane peaked out the door and when she saw the coast was clear and quickly rushed to her car. Checking the back seat to make sure it was clear as well, she tossed her stuff in the trunk and Trubel did the same before they started the car.

“Sloane, what are we going to do? Are we going back to Portland?” she asked.

“…We’ll head that way. Once we’re a safe distance away, we’ll call Nick and try to figure out what to do that won’t bring five angry Grimms their way,” she sighed.

“They wouldn’t really hurt him, would they? He’s a Grimm too!”

“I don’t put anything past Collin,” she said, pulling out onto the highway. “The others…maybe could be reasoned with, aside from Amy who apparently is in love with him. But I have no doubt Collin is going to stir them up like a hornet’s nest before we can try, and I don’t know what he’ll tell them. He’s proven he’ll lie, cheat, whatever to get his way. But I want to put distance between us before I call in case they have anything to listen in.”

Trubel just nodded, trying to calm down. They were outside the city in about an hour, driving through the country roads, when she looked at the passenger side’s mirror. She squinted and then moved her head to look back and turned on her dark vision. “…There’s a car following us, no lights.”

Sloane glanced up and sighed. “Great…Okay, hold on, I’m going to try and—”

She didn’t finish that sentence before another car, a black truck that blended into the night even better than the one behind them, rammed into her from her side. Sloane’s SUV skidded over the road and she tried hard to keep control, but it ended up rolling down a steep embankment. It came to a rest at the bottom, wrecked badly but upright, the lights flickering and the windows and top crunched and scratched.

Up at the top Collin got out to look down at the wreck, the other four Grimms joining him and looking down at the car with mixed hard expressions.

And in Portland, it was quiet as they all looked at their phones with no news.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a two parter :3 and I leave it there for now. The holiday season is a busy time so hopefully I have time to finish the next part soon...
> 
> According to the wiki, the Phansigars from last chapter are supposed to be based on kamodo dragons--but I felt like that negated the more notable feature of them being their bite with all that deadly bacteria in there in favor of long tongues (also, they aren't from India? and Indonesia is mostly muslim?). So I made up the Racun rahang, which is Indonesia for Poison Jaw (according to google) and more heavily inspired by them. I'm going to say the Phansigars are more based on the Bengal Monitor, and they are the reason the Bengal Monitor gets a bad rap despite being mostly harmless. Oh, and despite basing this on another story that'll become clearer next chapter, the quote at the top is from Alice in Wonderland, but it fit so perfectly!
> 
> Happy Holidays!


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